Foster's Group
Encyclopedia
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...

 and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of 5.0% abv pale lager, It is a product of Foster's Group brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia...

. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....

 (ASX) and is based in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

. Foster's wine business was split into a separate company, Treasury Wine Estates
Treasury Wine Estates
Treasury Wine Estates is an Australian-based global winemaking and distribution business. Headquartered in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, and until a demerger in May 2011 was the wine division of international brewing company Foster's Group.-History:...

, in May 2011.

History

It was founded in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 in 1888 by two American brothers, William and Ralph Foster of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, who happened to own a refrigeration plant, which was necessary to brew beer in Australia's hot climate. They sold the brewery the following year and returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

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. This acquisition added famous brands such as Penfolds
Penfolds
Penfolds is an Australian wine producer, founded in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife, Mary Penfold...

, Lindemans
Lindemans (wine)
Lindeman's is an Australian winery, owned by Treasury Wine Estates. It was founded in 1843 by Henry Lindeman who planted its first vines in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. This original vineyard no longer exists, and the winery now has vineyards in South Australia , in Padthaway and at...

 and Rosemount
Rosemount (wine)
Rosemount is an Australian winery based in Hunter Valley and South Australia, owned by Treasury Wine Estates. At the turn of the 21st century, Rosemount was the second best selling Australian wine brand in the US.-History:...

 to the Foster's stable and around A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

1 billion to revenues.

There has long been speculation that the beer sector or all of Foster's Group will be subject to a takeover by a larger firm. Groups to express such an interest over the years have included Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

, SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...

, Molson Coors and Heineken International. In September 2011, the board of Fosters agreed to a takeover bid by SABMiller, valuing the company at Aus$9.9bn (USD$10.2bn; £6.5bn).

Business

In 1990, Asahi Breweries
Asahi Breweries
Asahi Breweries, Ltd. is a leading brewery and soft drink company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market....

 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 Asahi Super Dry
Asahi Breweries
Asahi Breweries, Ltd. is a leading brewery and soft drink company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market....

, Carlsberg, Cinzano
Cinzano
Cinzano is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari. It comes in four versions:*Cinzano Rosso, which is amber-coloured;*Cinzano Bianco, which is white and drier than Rosso, yet still considered a sweet vermouth;...

, Corona
Corona (beer)
Corona Extra, better known as Corona and labeled as Coronita in Spain, is a brand of pale lager owned and produced by Cerveceria Modelo at a number of breweries in Mexico. It is one of the best-selling beers in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide...

, Kronenbourg 1664, Perrier
Perrier
Perrier is a brand of bottled mineral water made from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard département of France. The spring is naturally carbonated...

, Skyy vodka
SKYY vodka
SKYY vodka is produced by SKYY Spirits LLC in San Francisco, California. SKYY Vodka is 40% ABV or 80 proof; SKYY 90 Vodka is a 90 proof high-priced brand aimed at martini drinkers. When SKYY Spirits LLC first launched in 1992 SKYY vodka was its first product; its creator, Maurice Kanbar, claims the...

, Stella Artois
Stella Artois
Stella Artois is a 5% ABV lager brewed in Leuven, Belgium since 1926. In the UK, Canada and New Zealand a 4% ABV version is also available.-Production:...

, and 42 Below import brands among many others. While in the United States and Canadian markets, Molson
Molson
Molson-Coors Canada Inc. is the Canadian division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Molson Coors Brewing Company. It is the second oldest company in Canada after the Hudson's Bay Company. Molson's first brewery was located on the St...

 brews and sells Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of 5.0% abv pale lager, It is a product of Foster's Group brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia...

 under license.

In August 2008, it was convicted and fined more than $1-million for two breaches of Victoria's (Australia's) Occupational Health and Safety Act which led to the death of a worker in 2006. 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.

CEO Trevor O'Hoy
Trevor O'Hoy
Trever O'Hoy was the President and CEO of Foster's Group from 2004 until 10 June 2008.He was educated at Monash University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Economics in 1976. He has also studied at the Harvard Advanced Management Program....

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

Foster's announced yearly results which ended on 30 June 2009. The net sales revenue increases by 2.7% to $4.5 billion. Net profit increases by 4.0% to $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 ASD$1.8 billion that at the businesses AGM
AGM
-Military and navy:* Air-to-ground missile, a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft* Artillery Gun Module, an air-portable self-propelled howitzer...

 in Melbourne on 29 April 2011, 99% of Fosters Group shareholders agreed to split Fosters Group business in to two separate brewing and wines companies. The wines business became Treasury Wine Estates, and was listed on the ASX on 10 May 2011.. In a late August 2011 interview 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.

Operating companies

  • Carlton & United Beverages
    Carlton & United Beverages
    Carlton & United Breweries is an Australian brewing company based in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. In 1983 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Elders IXL and CUB was delisted. In 1990, Elders IXL renamed to the Foster's Group, and in July 2004, CUB changed its name to Carlton and...

    • Cascade Brewery
      Cascade Brewery
      Cascade Brewery is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia. It is based in South Hobart, Tasmania. The Cascade estate was founded beside the clean water of the Hobart Rivulet in 1824 by Peter Degraves, an entrepreneur who emigrated from England...

    • Matilda Bay Brewing Company
      Matilda Bay Brewing Company
      The Matilda Bay Brewing Company is an Australian brewery, owned by the Foster's Group. Originating from small batches brewed for the Sail and Anchor hotel in 1984, their main brewery opened in 1989 in a prominent building on the Stirling Highway occupied by Ford Motor Company...

    • Samoa Breweries

External links

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