Lepionka to step down as Charlie's CEO

Charlie's, the juice and soft drink maker sold to Asahi Group last year, said co-founder Stefan Lepionka will step down as chief executive, effective July 31.

Lepionka will continue to sit on the board alongside former rugby star Marc Ellis and Simon Neal, who helped found the company in 1999. The Auckland-based company has already started looking for Lepionka's replacement.

“My view is that boards are dynamic places and I am looking forward to shifting into a stronger strategic and less operational role,” Lepionka said in a statement.

Last year, the juice maker was acquired by Asahi and is now part of the Schweppes group, which the Japanese brewer bought in 2009.

Charlie's also owns the New Zealand-based Phoenix Organic drinks company.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Anti-spam verification:

Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

KMD completes Placement and Institutional Entitlement Offer
SML - North Island asset sale completed
RAD - Radius Care Expansion Continues with Care Home Acquisition
PFI - Property for Industry Limited Bond Offer Final Terms Sheet
April 1st Morning Report
FSF - Fonterra completes sale of Mainland Group to Lactalis
GNE - Resignation of Chief Financial Officer
PFI - Property for Industry Limited Launches Bond Offer
March 30th Morning Report
HGH Ltd Results for the 6 months ended 1 February 2026