Foster's Group

Last updated

Foster's Group Limited
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Beverages
Founded1888;136 years ago (1888)
Headquarters Southbank, Melbourne, Australia
Key people
Ari Mervis, Chief Executive Officer
Products Victoria Bitter
Foster's Lager
Parent Asahi Group Holdings

Foster's Group Pty. Ltd. was an Australian beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks, known for Foster's Lager, now called Carlton & United Breweries since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in Melbourne, Victoria by two American brothers, who sold the brewery a year later.

Contents

The company was renamed prior to sale to British-South African multinational SABMiller in 2011. Foster's wine business was split into a separate company, Treasury Wine Estates, in May 2011. In October 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired SABMiller, which ceased trading as a corporation, making the Foster's Group a direct subsidiary of the parent company. In June 2020, Carlton and United Breweries was sold to the Japanese beverage giant, Asahi Group Holdings. [1]

History

Foster's was founded in Melbourne in 1888 by two American brothers William and Ralph Foster of New York, United States, who happened to own a refrigeration plant. Cooling was necessary to brew and store acceptable lagers in Australia's hot climate, unlike the English-style dark ales commonly brewed at the time. They sold the brewery the following year and returned to the United States. [2]

In 1983 Elders IXL, a giant Australian diversified conglomerate, purchased Carlton and United Breweries, and renamed it Elders Brewing Group. Then in 1990, the Elders Brewing Group changed its name to the Foster's Group, to reflect the name of their most internationally recognised product.

In 2005, Foster's Group acquired the Australian wine-making group Southcorp Wines. This acquisition added famous brands such as Penfolds, Lindemans and Rosemount to the Foster's stable and around A$1 billion to revenues.

In May 2011, Foster's Group's Treasury Wine Estates unit was spun off into a separate company. The first day of trading saw its share price soaring, valuing the separate entity at A$2.2 billion. [3]

There had long been speculation that the beer sector or all of Foster's Group would be subject to a takeover by a larger firm. Groups to express such an interest over the years have included Diageo, the British-South African company SABMiller, Molson Coors and Heineken International. Foster's Group was renamed Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and its wine business split into a separate company, Treasury Wine Estates, in May 2011. CUB was sold to SABMiller [4] in September 2011, valued at A$9.9bn (US$10.2bn; £6.5bn). [5] Foster's Group Limited shares (ASX code: FGL) were suspended from trading on the ASX on 2 December 2011 and delisted from the ASX at close of trading on 20 December 2011. [6]

On 10 October 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired SABMiller. SABMiller was delisted and ceased trading on global stock markets, and Foster's Group became a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. [4] [7] [8] [9] As a result, Foster's Group became a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. [10]

In 2019, Business Insider reported that Asahi Group Holdings, a large Japanese beverage corporation, would buy Anheuser-Busch InBev's Australian assets, "including Foster's beer and Carlton and United Breweries". [11] In June 2020, Anheuser-Busch InBev completed the sale of Carlton and United Breweries to Asahi Group Holdings. [10]

Business

In 1990, Asahi Breweries acquired a 19.9% stake in Australian brewery giant Elders IXL which later became Foster' s Group.

Foster's Group imports, licenses, and distributes a large number of brands. In Australia, Foster's distributes the Cinzano, Perrier, Skyy vodka, Stella Artois, and 42 Below import brands among many others. While in the United States and Canadian markets, Molson brews and sells Foster's Lager under license.

In August 2008, it was convicted and fined more than A$1 million for two breaches of Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act which led to the death of a worker in 2006. [12] The prosecution of the company by the Director of Public Prosecutions for WorkSafe Victoria resulted in a call for the company to better report on health and safety in its annual report. [13]

CEO Trevor O'Hoy resigned on 10 June 2008 after poor performance by the wine division of the group. [14] O'Hoy was replaced by Ian Johnston on 21 July 2008 in the position of acting CEO. [15]

Foster's announced yearly results which ended on 30 June 2009. The net sales revenue increases by 2.7% to A$4.5 billion. Net profit increases by 4.0% to A$741.5m and earnings per share increases by 4.6% to 38.5 cents.

In 2011, Fosters made major losses that including a write-down in the value of the wines division to A$1.8 billion [16] that at the business's AGM in Melbourne on 29 April 2011, 99% of Fosters Group shareholders agreed to split Fosters Group business into two separate brewing and wines companies. The wines business became Treasury Wine Estates, and was listed on the ASX on 10 May 2011. [17] [18] In an ABC interview in late August 2011, the Carlton United Group (Fosters beer division) announced that they would be focusing more on craft beer to meet the change in taste of the Australian drinker. [19]

In 2011, Foster's was acquired by SABMiller; the latter was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in October 2016. [20] [21]

Brands

Beers and breweries

Cider

Spirits

Non-alcohol

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster's Lager</span> Brand of lager

Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labatt Brewing Company</span> Belgian-owned brewery in Canada

Labatt Brewing Company Limited is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Breweries</span> Brewing company based in Johannesburg, South Africa

South African Breweries is a major brewery headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller until its interests were sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev on 10 October 2016. South African Breweries is now a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grolsch Brewery</span> Dutch brewery

Grolsch Brewery , known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century. It held a significant stake until November 2007. Today the main brewery is located in Enschede.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SABMiller</span> Multinational brewing and beverage company

SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world's second-largest brewer measured by revenues and was also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands included Foster's, Miller, and Pilsner Urquell. It operated in 80 countries worldwide and in 2009 sold around 21 billion litres of beverages. Since 10 October 2016, SABMiller is a business division of AB InBev, a Belgian multinational corporation with headquarters in Leuven.

Topvar Breweries is a beer brewing company in Slovakia. The company was created by the merger of the Saris and Topvar breweries on 1 January 2007, after both were purchased by global brewing giant SABMiller in 2006. Subsequently, as part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller in October 2016, Topvar was sold to Asahi Breweries of Japan on December 13, 2016; the deal is expected to close during the first half of 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Brewery</span> Oldest operating brewery in Australia

Cascade Brewery is a brewery established in 1824 in South Hobart, Tasmania, and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Brewery</span>

Castle Brewery is one of the oldest commercial breweries in South Africa. As company-endorsed legend would have it, the company was founded by Charles Glass in Johannesburg in 1894. UCT history professor Anne Kelk Mager has argued that the official SAB story overemphasized the role of Charles and that it was his wife Lisa Glass who was primarily responsible for the creation of Castle. It later merged with other breweries to form South African Breweries, which still later merged with Miller of the United States to form SABMiller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton & United Breweries</span> Australian beverage manufacturer

Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, Pure Blonde and Melbourne Bitter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in the United States</span> Overview of the beer culture in the United States of America

Beer in the United States is manufactured in breweries which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels (23.0 GL) of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly 28 US gallons (110 L) of beer per capita annually. In 2011, the United States was ranked fifteenth in the world in per capita consumption, while total consumption was second only to China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asahi Breweries</span> Japanese food and beverage company

The Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. is a Japanese beverage holding company headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo.

Kompania Piwowarska is a Polish brewing group based in Poznań, established in 1999. Since 2017 it has been owned by Asahi Breweries. Kompania Piwowarska currently has three breweries: Lech Browary Wielkopolski in Poznań, Tyskie Browary Książęce in Tychy and Browar Dojlidy in Białystok. Tyskie Browary Książęce, one of the oldest breweries in Europe, was founded in 1629.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meantime Brewery</span> Brewery based in Greenwich, London, England

Meantime Brewing Company is a brewery based in Greenwich, London, England, and owned by Japan's Asahi Breweries.

SABMiller was one of the top five global brewing companies, and had a range of over 150 beers, including international beers such as Pilsner Urquell, and Miller Genuine Draft, and local ones such as Gambrinus and Castle Milk Stout.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is the largest beer company in the world. It had 200 brands prior to the merger with SABMiller on October 10, 2016. The combined ABInBev/SAB Miller entity has approximately 400 beer brands as of January 2017.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is a Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium and is the largest brewer in the world. Additionally, AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters in São Paulo, London, St. Louis, Mexico City, Bremen, Johannesburg, and others. It has approximately 630 beer brands in 150 countries.

InBev was a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheuser-Busch InBev. InBev had operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries. In 2006, it had a market capitalization of €30.6 billion and net profit of €3.2 billion on sales of €13.3 billion.

Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreher Breweries</span> Brewery in Budapest, Hungary

Dreher (Kőbánya) Brewery in Budapest is owned by Asahi Breweries. Its main products are the Dreher Gold, Arany Ászok and Kőbányai Világos pilsener-style lagers but it also brews Dreher Bak, a full-bodied dark beer with a slight taste of caramel.

References

  1. "Iconic brewer Carlton & United sold to Japan's Asahi for $16 billion". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 July 2019.
  2. Dunstan, Keith, The Amber Nectar, ISBN   0 670 90044 3; Australian Brewers' Journal 20-11-1889
  3. "Treasury Wine Valued at $2.3 Billion After Spinoff From Foster's Group". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Foster's Group". hobbyDB. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. "SABMiller agrees Foster's takeover deal". BBC News . 21 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  6. "Investors". Foster's Group Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  7. "Company Overview of SABMiller Limited". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. 14 November 2016. The company was formerly known as South African Breweries plc and changed its name to SABMiller plc in July 2002.
  8. Dill, Molly (10 October 2016). "Anheuser-Busch to complete acquisition of SABMiller today". BizTimes. BizTimes Media LLC. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  9. Nurin, Tara (10 October 2016). "It's Final: AB InBev Closes on Deal To Buy SABMiller". Forbes. Retrieved 1 February 2017. SABMiller ceased trading on global stock markets last week
  10. 1 2 Arthur, Rachel. "AB InBev completes sale of Carlton & United Breweries to Asahi". beveragedaily.com. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  11. GmbH, finanzen net. "The maker of Budweiser is selling off its $11 billion Australian business after a failed IPO (BUD) | Markets Insider". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  12. Foster's fined $1.125m over worker's death Sarah-Jane Collins - 5 August 2008 - The Age.
  13. http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe/SiteTools/News/Fosters+gets+record+fine+for+fatal+safety+breachesI [ dead link ]
  14. Takeovers rarely work for shareholders Michael West (10 June 2008) smh.com.au.
  15. ASX - Ian Johnston appointed acting CEO on departure of Trevor O'Hoy Archived 29 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine Melbourne, 21 July 2008 - Media Centre - Foster's Group Limited.
  16. "Foster's shareholders decide wine and beer don't mix". ABC News. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  17. "Investors agree to split Foster's into beer, wine units". BBC News. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  18. "Treasury Wine Estates debuts in market middle". The Australian. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  19. PM. "New brew". Radio Programm Interview. ABC Radio National (Australia). Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  20. "Australia approves $11 billion Foster's sale to SABMiller". Reuters. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  21. Cimilluca, Dana (22 September 2011). "Foster's Accepts Big Bid". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 18 August 2021.