The story
James Beam began selling barrels of whiskey in 1795. By 1935, his family's business was formally established as the James B. Beam Distilling Company. Ten years later, the Chicago spirits merchant Harry Blum bought the company, and in 1968 sold it to American Brands, Inc.
In 1987, the James B. Beam Distilling Company purchased National Distillers and renamed itself the Jim Beam Brands Company. It was known as Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Inc. by the time Fortune Brands purchased it in 2005. Fortune Brands also acquired 20 brands from Allied Domecq in 2005, worth $5 billion, which turned Fortune Brands into one of the largest producers of whiskey in the international market.
In 2006, the company was renamed Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. It was split from Fortune Brands to become an independent publicly traded company, Beam Inc., in 2011. As a distinct entity, the company was established as Beam Inc. on October 3, 2011, from the remainder of the Fortune Brands holding company after it sold and divested various other product lines to form a business focused exclusively on spirits and directly related products.
In December 2011, Beam Inc. agreed to buy the only independent Irish whiskey distiller that existed at the time, the Cooley Distillery, for $95 million. On April 23, 2012, Beam announced it would acquire the Pinnacle vodka and Calico Jack rum brands for $600 million.
In January 2014, Suntory announced a deal to buy Beam Inc. for about $13.6 billion. The acquisition was completed in April 2014, for a final cost of about $16 billion, when it was announced that Beam would become a subsidiary named "Beam Suntory." The acquisition created a culture shock within the company, when Japanese managers implied that the American-made Jim Beam whisky could be improved with the kaizen Japanese technique of continual improvement.
In November 2015, the company sold Harveys Bristol Cream sherry, as well as the brandy brands Fundador, Terry Centenario, and Tres Cepas, to Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., part of the Alliance Global Group for €275 million.
In March 2016, the company announced it would move its headquarters to the Merchandise Mart building on Chicago's Near North Side; Beam Suntory is subleasing 110,000 sq. ft on the 16th floor of the Mart from Motorola Mobility.
The Chicago Cubs and Beam Suntory announced a long-term sponsorship deal in January 2017, making Beam the official spirits partner of the Cubs and Wrigley Field.
Read the full text
In 2021, the Kamora and Leroux brands were sold to Minnesota-based Phillips Distilling.
In July 2022, Governor Beshear of Kentucky announced a major investment in Kentucky's bourbon industry as Beam Suntory will expand the capacity of Jim Beam Brands Co. with a $400 million investment that will create more than 50 full-time jobs at the Booker Noe Distillery in Boston, along with a new facility to produce renewable natural gas standards to power the expansion.
In 2024, Beam Suntory sold Courvoisier Cognac to Italy's Campari Group.
In May 2024, Beam Suntory was re-branded as Suntory Global Spirits including the launch of a new website and visual identity.
From Wikipedia’s article on Suntory Global Spirits, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4