Seagram Co
Seagram's Whisky of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1857 Joseph E. Seagram Company Ltd was founded in Ontario
1928 the firm was acquired by Montreal-based Distillers Corporation Ltd, owned by the Bronfman brothers and Distillers Company Ltd. The new owner grew the business into an international name.
1933 the Bronfman family bought the DCL shareholding
1935 Acquired Robert Brown Ltd of Paisley, including its substantial stock of mature whiskies.
1936 Seagram Distillers Co. was incorporated as a company in Scotland.
1949 Acquired Aberdeen-based Chivas Brothers from R. D. Lundie.
1950 Purchased Milton Distillery (later renamed Strathisla) at public auction on behalf of Chivas Brothers.
Barclay Bronfman also sold two of his own companies to Seagram – William Walker and Co and the Highland Bonding Co, again purchased for the whisky stocks they held.
1957 Seagram built a new distillery next door to Strathisla – Glen Keith, the first Scotch distillery to use gas rather than coal or peat as a fuel source. Seagram begin construction of a new headquarters, bottling and warehouse complex near Paisley
1970 Another warehouse and bottling site were built in Dalmuir, Clydebank.
1973 Opened new distillery Braes of Glenlivet (now known as Braeval), one of the highest distilleries in Scotland.
1975 Opened the Allt-a-Bhainne Distillery at Glenrinnes
1977 The company purchased Glenlivet Distillers Ltd
1994 New strategy for the business to become a diversified business with assets in the film and television industry.
1995 purchased a controlling stake in MCA, which owned Universal Pictures and its theme parks.
Later purchased Polygram and Deutsche Grammophon.
2000 Seagram was sold to French entertainment company Vivendi. Seagram’s wine and spirits assets were sold on to Diageo and Pernod Ricard.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Scotch Whisky