Distell Group Limited, commonly referred to as Distell, is a multinational

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies ...

company, based in South Africa.

Overview

Distell Group Limited is a producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks. The group's headquarters are in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. As at February 2014, Distell had 5,300 employees worldwide and an annual turnover of

ZAR Zar may refer to: Places * Zar, Armenia * Zar, Azerbaijan * Žár, Czech Republic * Zar, Iran, in Markazi Province * Zeraq, or Zar, Hamadan Province, Iran * Żar, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland * Żar (mountain), in Poland * Žar Mountain, a m ...

17.7 Billion.

History

Distell Group Limited traces its roots to two major alcoholic beverage companies in South Africa, Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (SFW) and Distillers Corporation, that merged on 4 December 2000.

Merger

Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery

Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Group (SFW) the founder member of Distell Group was formed in 1925 by William Charles Winshaw, an American medical doctor. As at the year 2000, SFW produced and distributed wine and spirits as well as non-alcoholic beverages through retail outlets South Africa and across the world. In 1956 Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Ltd was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Distillers Corporation

Distillers Corporation was formed in 1945 by

Anton Rupert Anthony Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 – 18 January 2006) was a South African businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist. He was born and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. He studied in Pretoria and ultimat ...

. Distillers expanded energetically and very quickly set up marketing relationships and partnerships in the wine and spirits industry. The company became a major producer, focusing on distillates and in particular on the brandy market that it developed from relative obscurity to its current level of prominence. It is renowned for its Bergkelder concept, a marketing innovation that invited wine estates to make use of Distillers' bottling, sales and marketing expertise. In addition, it created a new African icon, Amarula Cream, which is one of the top-selling cream liqueurs in the world. Distillers Corporation was also listed on the JSE.

Merger transaction

On 20 September 2000, Distillers' Corporation and Stellenbosch Farmers Winery directors announced the merger of the two firms. The merger was made possible because both firms had a similar shareholding structure i.e. * Remgro-KWV Investments – 60% of Distillers' Corporation and a similar stake in SFW. * Other Beverages Industries (Pty) Ltd – 30% of Distillers' Corporation and a similar stake in SFW. Other Beverage Interests Proprietary Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of

SABMiller 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world ...

. * Public via The JSE – 10% This structure allowed the merger not to have any diluting effect on the lead shareholders' effective interest in the merged entity. On 4 December 2000, the management announced the conclusion of the merger. The newly formed entity was known as Distell from the names of the two constituent companies. Distell Group's shares began trading on the

Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

on 19 March 2001 under the symbol DST.

Post merger

In April 2013 Distell bought Scotch whisky company Burn Stewart Distillers from

CL Financial CL Financial was the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean, before the company encountered a major liquidity crisis and subsequent bailout in 2009. ...

for £160m. Following its acquisition of SABMiller,

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters i ...

announced that it would sell its 26.4% acquired state in Distell Group to

Public Investment Corporation The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a South African state-owned entity (SOCNational Government of South Africa''Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)'' on www.nationalgovernment.co.za) with R2.339 trillion (USD 145 Billion) o ...

Announced acquisition

On 15 November 2021,

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Fe ...

announced a plan to buy Distell Group, in order to become the market-leading alcoholic beverage supplier in South Africa. The takeovers would be the first major deal for Heineken’s CEO and chairman of the executive board

Dolf van den Brink Dolf van den Brink (born 1973) is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board at Heineken N.V. Career Dolf van den Brink is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board at Heineken N.V. since 1 June 2020. H ...

, who took charge at Heineken in June 2020.

Ownership

The

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

of Distell Group Limited is listed on the JSE, where it trades under the symbol: DST. shareholding in the group's stock is as depicted in the table below: * Remgro-Capevin Investments Proprietary Limited is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Remgro Limited and Capevin Holdings. Each company has a 50% stake in the joint venture. * Capevin Holdings is a JSE listed firm whose sole investment as at 30 June 2014 was an effective interest of 26.5% in the issued share capital of Distell Group Limited, held via its 50% interest in Remgro-Capevin Investments Proprietary Limited. * Remgro Limited holds 15.6% shareholding in Capevin Holdings. That gives Remgro Limited 30.65% indirect control in Distell Group Limited.

Brands

Distell's major brands include:

Spirit portfolio

Wine portfolio

Cider and ready to drink

References

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External links

Distell Group Limited
Food and drink companies established in 2000 Companies based in Stellenbosch Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange South African winemakers Beer in Africa Multinational breweries Drink companies of South Africa South African brands South African companies established in 2000