Sabmiler Plc

Company Background:

A London based company SABMiller plc is the second largest brewing company in the world. It is also one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola product. Today the company owns more than 130 breweries and 41 bottling plants across Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, and South Africa. The company has over 200 beer brands and more than 70,000 employees working in 75 different countries. The company also involved in hotel and gaming industry through investments. According to the SABMiller’s home page, the main objective of the company is “to achieve commercial success in beer and other beverages by gaining customer satisfaction over quality and services as well as by fulfilling stakeholder's expectation”. And for achieving this objective the company fulfills its goals of business growth and maximized long term shareholder value. (“SABMiller,” 2012)

History of the company:

The company started its history with a small organization named as South African Breweries Limited (SAB) which was established back in 1895 by a British sailor Fredrick Mead. In fact, Mr. Fredrick Mead started a brewing company in the Natal region of South Africa, which at that time was known as the Natal Brewing Syndicate. It was not until 1892 when Fredrick Mead purchased the Castle Brewery from its proprietor Charles Glass with the aim of expanding to the booming Witwatersrand areas of the country as a result of the gold rush in the region, which then turned to SAB Company. Two years later in 1997, it became the first industrial company to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and right after a year, in 1898, it also listed on the London Stock Exchange. (“Findinguniverse,” 2013)

From the early 1990s onwards, the company increasingly expanded internationally, making several acquisitions in both emerging and developed markets. In 1999, it formed a new UK-based holding company, SAB plc, and moved its primary listing to London. After that in May...