TORONTO, June 18 (UPI) -- A boardroom shake-up at Molson Inc. has some speculating the Canadian beer giant could merge or be the subject of a takeover.
Molson Deputy Chairman Ian Molson and four other board members have decided not to stand for re-election "for personal reasons" at the company's annual meeting Tuesday, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
Sources said there has been a bitter boardroom split between Eric Molson, the brewer's longtime chairman, and Ian Molson, a distant cousin who helped engineer the beer company's turnaround.
Molson has been caught up in the global beer wars, with the biggest brewing giants buying up competitors and competing in new countries. Despite Molson being North America's oldest beer company, it has had trouble expanding into other countries.
Sources said that Molson has held informal discussions with Colorado-based Adolph Coors Co., although it isn't clear if the talks are continuing.
A Molson spokeswoman declined to comment on whether there is a leadership dispute, but she said the company has decided to reduce its board from 15 members to 10 for governance reasons.
