Distell Group Limited

Distell Group Limited

Type	Public limited company
Traded as	JSE: DST
Industry	Brewing, Beverage
Predecessor	Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery Distillers Corporation
Founded	4 December 2000 (2000-12-04) through Merger
Founder	William Charles Winshaw SFW's Founder Anton Rupert Distillers Corp's Founder
Headquarters	Stellenbosch, South Africa
Key people	Richard Rushton - CEO
Revenue	ZAR 17.7 Billion (2014)
Net income	ZAR 1.5 Billion
Total assets	ZAR 15.9 Billion (2014)
Number of employees	5,300 (2014)
Website	Homepage

Distell Group Limited, commonly referred to as Distell, is a multinational brewing and beverage company.

Overview

Distell Group Limited is one of Africa’s leading producer and marketer of spirits, fine wines, ciders and ready-to-drinks. The group's headquartered are in Stellenbosch, South Africa.^[1]

As at February 2014, Distell had 5,300 employees worldwide and an annual turnover of ZAR 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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

In 1956 Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Ltd was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.^[5]

Distillers Corporation

Distillers Corporation was formed in 1945 by Anton 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 expertise. In addition, it created a new African icon, Amarula Cream, which is one of the top-selling cream liqueurs in the world.^[3]

Distillers Corporation was also listed on the JSE.

The Merger

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.^[6]

• Remgro-KWV Investments - 60% of Distillers' Corporation and a similar state in SFW
• Other Beverages Industries (Pty) Ltd - 30% of Distillers' Corporation and a similar state in SFW
• Public via The JSE- 10%

This structure allowed the merger no to have any diluting effect on the lead shareholders' effective interest in the merged entity.^[7]

4 December 2000, announced the management announced the conclusion of the merger. The newly formed entity was known as Distell from the names of the two constituent companies.^[2][8]

Distell Group's shares began trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 19 March 2001 under the symbol DST.^[2]

Ownership

The stock of Distell Group Limited is listed on the JSE, where it trades under the symbol: DST.^[9] The shareholding as at 31 March 2014 is shown below:^[10]

Distell Group Limited Stock Ownership

Rank Name of Owner Percentage Ownership 1 Remgro-Capevin Investments Proprietary Limited 53.0 2 Other Beverage Interests Proprietary Limited 26.5 3 Others via the JSE 20.5 Total 100.0

• Remgro-Capevin Investments Proprietary Limited is a joint venture between Remgro Limited and Capevin Holdings. Each company has a 50% stake in the joint venture.^[11]
• 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.
• Other Beverage Interests Proprietary Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller.

Brands

Distell's major brands include:^[12]

Spirit portfolio

Wine portfolio

Cider & Ready to drink

See also

• William Charles Winshaw
• Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery v Distillers Corporation
• South African wine
• List of wineries in South Africa
• JSE Limited
• SABMiller

External links

• Distell Group Limited
• Bloomberg Distell Group Profile
• Reuters Distell Group Profile

References