 | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| JSE:DGH | |
| Industry | Brewing, Beverage |
| Predecessor | Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery Distillers Corporation |
| Founded | 4 December 2000; 24 years ago (2000-12-04) through Merger |
| Founder | William Charles Winshaw SFW's Founder Anton Rupert Distillers Corp's Founder |
| Defunct | April 26, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-04-26) |
| Fate | Carved-out |
| Successor | |
| Headquarters | Stellenbosch,South Africa |
Key people | Richard Rushton -CEO |
| Revenue | ZAR 17.7 Billion (2014)[1] The shareholding as at 31 March 2014 is shown below:[2] |
| ZAR 1.5 Billion | |
| Total assets | ZAR 15.9 Billion (2014) |
Number of employees | 5,300 (2014) |
| Website | www.distell.co.za |
Distell Group Limited, commonly referred to as Distell, was amultinationalbrewing andbeverage company, based in South Africa. On April 26, 2023, Distell was acquired byHeineken.[3] After that, its operations were integrated intoHeineken Beverages, a company created by the merger of its South African unit, Distell, and the African brewery acquired by the Dutch multinationalNamibia Breweries.[4]
Distell Group Limited is a producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks. The group's headquarters are inStellenbosch,South Africa.[5]
As at February 2014, Distell had 5,300 employees worldwide and an annual turnover ofZAR 17.7 Billion.
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.[6]
Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Group (SFW) the founder member of Distell Group was formed in 1925 byWilliam Charles Winshaw, anAmerican medical doctor.[7] 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.[8]
In 1956 Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Ltd was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.[9]
Distillers Corporation was formed in 1945 byAnton Rupert. 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. In addition, it createdAmarula Cream, which is one of the top-selling cream liqueurs in the world.[7]
Distillers Corporation was also listed on the JSE.
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.[10]
This structure allowed the merger not to have any diluting effect on the lead shareholders' effective interest in the merged entity.[11]
On 4 December 2000, the management announced the conclusion of the merger. The newly formed entity was known asDistellfrom the names of the two constituent companies.[6][12]
Distell Group's shares began trading on theJohannesburg Stock Exchange on 19 March 2001 under the symbolDST.[6]
In April 2013 Distell bought Scotch whisky companyBurn Stewart Distillers fromCL Financial for £160m.[13]
Following its acquisition of SABMiller,[14]Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that it would sell its 26.4% acquired state in Distell Group toPublic Investment Corporation.[15]
On 15 November 2021,Heineken 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 boardDolf van den Brink, who took charge at Heineken in June 2020.[16] The acquisition was completed in 2023[17]
Thestock of Distell Group Limited is listed on the JSE, where it trades under the symbol:DST. As of June 2015[update] shareholding in the group's stock is as depicted in the table below:[18]
| Rank | Name of Owner | Percentage Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Remgro-Capevin Investments Proprietary Limited | 53.00 |
| 2 | Other Beverage Interests Proprietary Limited | 26.50 |
| 3 | Others via the JSE | 20.50 |
| Total | 100.00 |
Distell's major brands include:[20]
