Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States.[3]
In 2016, Molson Coors acquired Miller Brewing Company for approximately US$12 billion.[4] The agreement made Molson Coors the world's third largest brewer.[5]
The operations of Molson Coors in Brazil were sold to the Mexican group FEMSA in 2006, and the beer operations of FEMSA was acquired by Heineken International in 2010.
On October 9, 2007, SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced a joint venture to be known as MillerCoors for their U.S. brewing and sales operations. SABMiller had 58% stake in the company, and Molson Coors had a 42% stake. MillerCoors combined their operations within North America with the headquarters in Chicago.[9]
In early 2012, the company expanded into the Central and Eastern European markets by acquiring the region's market-leading brewery StarBev from CVC Capital Partners.[11]
In September 2015, Anheuser-Busch Inbev announced that it had reached agreement to acquire competitor SABMiller for $107 billion. During the merger discussions between the two companies in 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had agreed to the proposed deal only on the basis that SABMiller "spins off all its MillerCoors holdings in the U.S. — which include both Miller- and Coors-held brands — along with its Miller brands outside the U.S."[12]
SABMiller agreed to divest itself of the Miller brands by selling its stake in MillerCoors to Molson Coors. The merger between Anheuser-Busch Inbev and SABMiller closed on October 10, 2016. The spinoff deal was completed on October 11, 2016.[13] As per the agreement with the regulators, SABMiller sold to Molson Coors full ownership of the Miller Brewing Company brand portfolio.[14]
After SABMiller divested itself of all interests in MillerCoors, Molson Coors became the largest brewer in North America[15]
On October 30, 2019, the company announced it would change its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company as a part of a restructuring to take place in 2020.[16] The name change would reflect the company's growing focus on beverages outside of the traditional beer and brewing offerings. Additionally, the company would retire the MillerCoors corporate brand name and reorganize its global business units into Molson Coors North America, headquartered in Toronto, and Molson Coors Europe, headquartered in Prague.[17][18]
On February 26, 2020, six people, including the shooter, were killed at a shooting near the company's Milwaukee brewing campus.[19][20] The Milwaukee complex serves as a site for some of Molson Coors' corporate offices and brewing facilities and was in the "Miller Valley" area, which served as the headquarters for the Miller Brewing Company before it was acquired by Molson Coors.[21]
On September 15, 2020, Molson Coors and D. G. Yuengling & Son announced a joint venture to oversee the expansion of Yuengling beer into states beyond its existing footprint. Under the terms of the deal, Yuengling beers will be brewed and packaged in select Molson Coors’ breweries under Yuengling brewers’ supervision, and distributed into new markets.[22]
Molson Coors conducted a comprehensive, and voluntary investigation of its pollution and environmental emissions. Coors was not violating the Clean Air Act but was encouraged by the Environmental Audit Privilege and Voluntary Disclosure Act which immunizes and credits organizations for conducting environmental self-audits, which can grant immunity from environmental regulation fines.[25]
The United States government had thought that Coors was a minor violator of emissions such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but the investigating showed otherwise, revealing that Coors was 17 times over the estimated value of emissions. Molson Coors then provided the audit results to the Colorado Department of Health which culminated in a $1.05 million fine for the 189 violations of state pollution laws.[26]
Although Molson Coors said they did not know about the volatile organic compounds they were emitting, they do claim to be environmentally aware. Coors has also implemented a quarterly Supplier Quality Scorecard for their growers which tracks sustainable performance metrics such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and water consumption.[27]
In an in-depth analysis of the climate change "countermovement", the Coors Affiliated Foundation was listed among the top donors, having funded roughly 1% (US$6.2 million) of all climate denial research conducted between 2003 and 2010.[28][29]
^Reason.orgArchived 2008-05-21 at the Wayback Machine Environmental Enforcement: In Search of Both Effectiveness and Fairness by Alexander Volokh and Roger Marzulla August 1996 retrieved 30 April 2008
US$13.8 billion (2023)[1]
