Saputo: CEO Transition Doesn’t Sway Our View; Shares Not Attractive

On May 14, no-moat Saputo announced that Lino Saputo would step down from his position as president and CEO on Aug. 9 after 20 years at the helm and 36 years with the business his family founded in 1954. As CEO, Saputo was pivotal in expanding his namesake firm’s geographic footprint, growing its value-added ingredients business, and driving efficiencies by reducing operational costs through automation. Assuming the top spot will be Carl Colizza, current president and COO (North America). In our view, Colizza is well suited to take over the CEO role given his roughly 25 years of experience serving in multiple leadership positions across Saputo’s business functions (spanning engineering, operations, business development, and strategy) and geographic regions (Canada, North America, and Argentina). Encouragingly, Lino Saputo will stay on as executive chair of the board, where he intends to focus on the firm’s strategic oversight and culture; we believe this should afford a seamless transition.