When the world’s second largest brewing company is also a major beverage bottling organisation for Coca-Cola, it goes without saying that the said company is huge. This is SAB Miller ; a South African multinational firm that has its headquarters in London. SAB Miller is headed by Allan Clark and has spread its presence and distribution in nearly 80 countries now. This spans throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America as well as Australia. With an establishment of a multitude of famous brands such as Fosters, Miller Ace, Haywards 5000, Knock Out, Miller High Life, Grolsch, Indus Pride, Miller Brewing Company, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Azzurro and so many more, the SAB Miller Group brings itself to sell around 21 billion litres of lager beer on an annual basis.
The beginnings of SAB Miller are just as humble as the year it began in. The South African Breweries, that were founded in 1895, were established by the sole aim of catering to the rising market of miners and various spot prospectors within and surrounding Johannesburg. In a couple of years, they had become the very first industrial company to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Johannesburg, swiftly followed by appearing on the London Stock Change barely a year later in 1898.
A strategic move in 1955 was a turning point for SAB Miller. South Africa had commissioned revisions in the excise duty which imposed heavy taxes on beer and beverages. Making the best of this, SAB Miller dared and successfully acquired two of their competitors, Ohlsson’s and Chandlers, in spite of being a smaller organisation than both of them. This resulted in a wonderfully streamlined production and distribution mechanism for the lager sector. This firm milestone ensure SAB Miller to march into further decades of growing larger and stronger.
Acquiring companies and breweries in new markets and established markets, SAB Miller achieved an international expanse and continued growing in the early 90s. In 1999 and 2002, the company carried out two decisions that brings us to the current standing of it. Firstly, it created a new holding company based in the United Kingdom in 1999. Naming it SAB plc., it shifted its primary listing to London. With that in place, in 3 years, SAB plc., absorbed the Miller Brewing Company in 2002, becoming what we now know as SAB Miller. With this new name and a fresh image in place, the company initiated its vision and purpose of giving rise to a business that is spread across the globe and yet achieves a synergy in all locations.
The next decade witnessed SAB Miller carry out a number of strategic deals that poised itself as one of the largest brewing companies. They acquired Bavaria S.A of Colombia in 2005 and introduced their presence in the land of Latin America. Striding ahead, in 2007, the Koninklijke Grolsch N.V was acquired by them. Furthermore, 2008 saw a combination of the Miller Brewing Company with the US business of Molson Coors, giving rise to joint venture called as MillerCoors. The masterstroke arrived when SAB Miller acquired the renowned Foster’s Group of Australia in the year 2011.
Graham Mackay is fondly remembered as the man who transformed SAB Miller from a large company to one of the largest companies in the world within a decade. Termed as one of the most excellent chief executives of the business world, his efforts made SAB Miller the second-largest brewer in the world and pulsed a stunning growth of 430% in the share price of the company since its 1999 listing in London.
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