TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that Nobuhiro Torii will take over as president from March next year, marking the first time in about 10 years that the leadership of the company has returned to the founding family.

Torii, an executive vice president of Suntory, will replace current President Takeshi Niinami, effective March 25, with Niinami assuming the role of chairman with the right to represent the company.

"I will boldly take on challenges with a strong sense of responsibility," Torii, 58, said at a news conference in Tokyo, pledging to pursue a management style that does not rely on precedents.

An Osaka native, Torii is the great-grandson of Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii and the son of Shinichiro Torii, the company's third president. The company was led by the Torii family until 2014 when the post was held by Niinami, an outsider.

Educated at Massachusetts-based Brandeis University, Torii began working in 1991 at the Industrial Bank of Japan, which merged with other banks to eventually form what is now known as the Mizuho Financial Group.

After joining Suntory in 1997, he became vice president in 2016 and has held key roles in the company's beverage and liquor operations.

Suntory has stepped up its expansion overseas, acquiring U.S. distiller Beam Inc. in 2014. In the first half of fiscal 2024, overseas operations accounted for 51 percent of the company's revenues.

Domestically, the company has focused on strengthening its beer segment. In 2023, it launched the new "Suntory Nama Beer" brand and began offering it to commercial clients in March this year.