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 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, Pu ...

since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

by two American brothers, who sold the brewery a year later. 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 is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business (4 ...

History

Foster's was founded in

in 1888 by two American brothers William and Ralph Foster of New York,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, 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. In 1983

Elders IXL Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia. History Early history (183 ...

, 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 Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently p ...

, 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. 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 The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

and

Heineken International Heineken N.V. () is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. , Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality be ...

. Foster's Group was renamed

(CUB), and its wine business split into a separate company, Treasury Wine Estates, in May 2011. CUB was sold to SABMiller in September 2011, valued at (US$10.2bn; £6.5bn). 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. 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. As a result, Foster's Group became a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. In 2019, ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...

'' reported that

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

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 Cinzano () is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari. History Cinzano vermouths date back to 1757 and the Turin herbal shop of two brothers, Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, who created a new "verm ...

Perrier Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled water, bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle. Perrier w ...

, Skyy vodka,

Stella Artois Stella Artois ( ) is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is also sold in other countries like the UK, Ir ...

, and 42 Below import brands among many others. While in the United States and Canadian markets,

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its C ...

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

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

Brands

Beers and breweries

** Carlton Black ** Carlton Draught **

Crown Lager Crown Lager is a 4.9% premium Australian beer originally made by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Foster's Group. The beer was first brewed in 1919 under its former name, "Foster's Crown Lager". History Carlton & United Brewerie ...

** Melbourne Bitter ** NT Draught ** Pure Blonde ** Reschs ** Sheaf Stout **

Victoria Bitter Victoria Bitter (VB) is a lager produced by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Asahi, in Melbourne, Victoria. It was first and brewed by Thomas Aitken at Victoria Brewery in 1854 and is one of the best selling beers in Australia. Hi ...

** Victoria Bitter Gold * Cascade Brewery **Cascade Amber Ale **Cascade Bitter **Cascade Blonde Lager **Cascade Draught **Cascade Export Stout **Cascade Green **Cascade Lager **Cascade Pale Ale **Cascade Premium Lager **Cascade Premium Light **Cascade Stout *Foster's ** Foster's Lager ** Foster's Lightice **Foster's

Radler Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon or a lemon-lime flavored beverage. The citrus beverage, often called lemonade, may or may not be carbonated. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste but are usually half lemonade ...

Great Northern Brewing Co. The Great Northern Brewing Co., commonly known as Great Northern, is a brand of full and a mid strength lager beer, owned by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and is brewed in Queensland at the CUB Yatala Brewery. It comes in 330mL "stubbies", ...

Grolsch Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), 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 E ...

* KB * Matilda Bay Brewing Company **Alpha Pale Ale **Beez Neez **Big Helga **Bohemian Pilsner **Dog Bolter Dark Lager **Fat Yak **Redback *

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

** Miller Chill **Miller Genuine Draft * Peroni **Peroni Nastro Azzurro *

Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Urquell (; cs, Plzeňský prazdroj ) is a lager beer brewed by the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzeň (German name: Pilsen), Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell was the world's first pale lager, and its popularity meant it was much copied ...

Power's Brewery Power's Brewery now CUB brewery, is a brewery based at Yatala in South East Queensland, Australia. It started out as an upstart brewery headed by publican Bernie Power to compete against the major Queensland brewery Castlemaine Perkins, in part ...

** Power's Bitter ** Power's dry ** Power's Gold

Cider

* Bulmers * Mercury * Strongbow

Spirits

* Akropolis Oyzo * Barossa Brandy * Black Jack * Continental Liqueurs * Cougar Bourbon * Coyote Tequila * Karloff * Kirov * Prince Albert's Gin * The Black Douglas

Non-alcohol

* Cascade *Torquay

References

External links

Beringer, Foster's Pop Champagne On Deal

{{Authority control Multinational companies headquartered in Australia Food and drink companies established in 1888 1888 establishments in Australia SABMiller Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Holding companies of Australia AB InBev brands it:Foster's