Seagram
Encyclopedia
The Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation
headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
that was the largest distiller
of alcoholic beverage
s in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures. The Seagram assets have since been acquired by other companies, notably The Coca-Cola Company
, Diageo
, Pernod Ricard
, and Vivendi
.
The Seagram Building
, the company's American headquarters office tower at 375 Park Avenue in New York City
, was designed by architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
with Philip Johnson
. The former Seagram headquarters in Montreal now belongs to McGill University
, under the name Martlet House
.
was founded in Waterloo
, Ontario
. Joseph E. Seagram
became a partner in 1869 and sole owner in 1883, and the company became known as Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. Many decades later, Samuel Bronfman
founded Distillers Corporation Limited, in Montreal, which enjoyed substantial growth in the 1920s, in part due to Prohibition
in the United States
.
In 1928, a few years after the death of Joseph E. Seagram (1919), the Distillers Corporation acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, and took over the Seagram name. The company was well prepared for the end of Prohibition in 1933 with an ample stock of aged whiskeys ready to sell to the newly opened American market, and it prospered accordingly. Thus despite its earlier Waterloo history, the Seagram name is most closely associated with the Bronfman family
. However, it is not correct to say, as is often done, that Samuel Bronfman founded Seagram, since the Seagram name itself pre-dated the company he founded.
Although he was never convicted of criminal activity, Samuel Bronfman's alleged dealings with bootleggers during the (US) Prohibition-era have been researched by various historians and are documented in various peer-vetted chronicles.
After the death of Samuel Bronfman in 1971, Edgar M. Bronfman was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until June 1994 when his son, Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
, was appointed CEO.
In 1981, cash rich and wanting to diversify, Seagram Company Ltd. engineered a takeover of Conoco Inc.
, a major American oil and gas producing company. Although Seagram acquired a 32.2% stake in Conoco, DuPont
was brought in as a white knight
by the oil company and entered the bidding war. In the end, Seagram lost out in the Conoco bidding war. But in exchange for its stake in Conoco Inc, it became a 24.3% owner of DuPont. By 1995 Seagram was DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors.
In 1986, the company started a memorable TV commercial campaign advertising its Golden Wine Cooler
products. With rising star Bruce Willis
as pitchman, Seagram rose from fifth place among distillers to first in just two years.
In 1987, Seagrams engineered a $1.2 billion takeover of important French cognac maker Martell & Cie.
On April 6, 1995, after being approached by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., DuPont announced a deal whereby the company would buy back its shares from the Seagram company for the amount of $9 billion. Seagram's was heavily criticized by the investment community—the 24.3% stake in DuPont accounted for 70% of Seagram's earnings. Standard & Poor's
took the unusual step of stating that the sale of the DuPont interest could result in a downgrade of Seagram's more than $4.2 billion of long-term debt.
The rationale for this divestiture was that Edgar Bronfman, Jr., grandson of Samuel Bronfman, wanted Seagram to branch out into the entertainment business. Bronfman, Jr., used the proceeds of the sale to help acquire Universal Studios
, MCA
, PolyGram
, and Deutsche Grammophon
. Seagram also gained control of a number of Universal theme parks.
In 1997, the Seagram Museum
, formerly the original Seagram distillery in Waterloo, was forced to close due to lack of funds. The building is now the home of the Centre for International Governance Innovation
. The two original barrel houses are now the Seagrams Lofts condominiums. There are also almost 5 acres (2 ha) of land that will be the home of the future Balsillie School of International Affairs.
In 2000, controlling interest in Seagram's entertainment division was acquired by the Vivendi Group, and the beverage division by Pernod Ricard
. By the time Vivendi auctioned off Seagram's drink business, beyond its original high-profile brand names the once renowned operation consisted of around two hundred and fifty drinks brands and brand extensions.
In 2002, The Coca-Cola Company
acquired the line of Seagram's mixers (ginger ale, tonic water, club soda and seltzer water) from Pernod Ricard
and Diageo
, as well as signing a long term agreement to use the Seagram's name from Pernod Ricard
. Seagram's Ginger Ale was named the winner at the 2009 World Cup of Ginger Ale in Chicago.
On April 19, 2006, Pernod Ricard announced that they would be closing the Seagram Lawrenceburg Distillery located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
. However, the distillery was instead sold in 2007 to CL Financial
, a holding company based in Trinidad and Tobago
which then collapsed and required government intervention. In October 2011, MGP Ingredients announced that it had reached an agreement (subject to further approval requirements) to purchase the distillery.
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that was the largest distiller
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
of alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures. The Seagram assets have since been acquired by other companies, notably The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
, Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
, Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
, and Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
.
The Seagram Building
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. Severud Associates were the structural engineering consultants. The building...
, the company's American headquarters office tower at 375 Park Avenue in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, was designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
with Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
. The former Seagram headquarters in Montreal now belongs to McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, under the name Martlet House
Martlet House
Martlet House, formerly the Montreal headquarters of Seagram Company Ltd., is a Scottish baronial style building on Peel Street in Montreal, Quebec. The building was completed in 1928 by architect David Jerome Spence, with additions in 1931, 1947 and 1955....
.
History
In 1857, a distilleryDistillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
was founded in Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Joseph E. Seagram
Joseph E. Seagram
Joseph Emm Seagram was a British Canadian distillery founder, politician, philanthropist, and major owner of thoroughbred racehorses....
became a partner in 1869 and sole owner in 1883, and the company became known as Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. Many decades later, Samuel Bronfman
Samuel Bronfman
Samuel Bronfman, was a Canadian business magnate and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Jewish family dynasty, the Bronfman family.-Early life:...
founded Distillers Corporation Limited, in Montreal, which enjoyed substantial growth in the 1920s, in part due to Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1928, a few years after the death of Joseph E. Seagram (1919), the Distillers Corporation acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, and took over the Seagram name. The company was well prepared for the end of Prohibition in 1933 with an ample stock of aged whiskeys ready to sell to the newly opened American market, and it prospered accordingly. Thus despite its earlier Waterloo history, the Seagram name is most closely associated with the Bronfman family
Bronfman family
The Bronfman family is a Canadian Jewish family. It owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman , who made a fortune in the alcoholic distilled beverage business during the 20th century through the family's Seagram Company. The family is of Russian Jewish and Romanian Jewish ancestry...
. However, it is not correct to say, as is often done, that Samuel Bronfman founded Seagram, since the Seagram name itself pre-dated the company he founded.
Although he was never convicted of criminal activity, Samuel Bronfman's alleged dealings with bootleggers during the (US) Prohibition-era have been researched by various historians and are documented in various peer-vetted chronicles.
Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
Edgar Miles Bronfman, Jr. , is the Chairman of Warner Music Group. He previously served as CEO of the company from 2004 to 2011. In May, 2011, the sale of WMG was announced; Bronfman would continued as CEO in the transaction. In August 2011, he became Chairman of the company as Stephen Cooper...
, was appointed CEO.
In 1981, cash rich and wanting to diversify, Seagram Company Ltd. engineered a takeover of Conoco Inc.
Conoco Inc.
Conoco Inc. was an American oil company founded in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Company. It is now a brand of gasoline and service station in the United States which belongs to the ConocoPhillips Company...
, a major American oil and gas producing company. Although Seagram acquired a 32.2% stake in Conoco, DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
was brought in as a white knight
White knight (business)
In business, a white knight, or "friendly investor," may be a corporation or a person that intends to help another firm. There are many types of white knights...
by the oil company and entered the bidding war. In the end, Seagram lost out in the Conoco bidding war. But in exchange for its stake in Conoco Inc, it became a 24.3% owner of DuPont. By 1995 Seagram was DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors.
In 1986, the company started a memorable TV commercial campaign advertising its Golden Wine Cooler
Wine cooler
A wine cooler is an alcoholic beverage made from wine and fruit juice, often in combination with a carbonated beverage and sugar.Traditionally home-made, wine coolers have been bottled and sold by commercial distributors since the early 1980s, especially in areas where their lower alcohol content...
products. With rising star Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as pitchman, Seagram rose from fifth place among distillers to first in just two years.
In 1987, Seagrams engineered a $1.2 billion takeover of important French cognac maker Martell & Cie.
On April 6, 1995, after being approached by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., DuPont announced a deal whereby the company would buy back its shares from the Seagram company for the amount of $9 billion. Seagram's was heavily criticized by the investment community—the 24.3% stake in DuPont accounted for 70% of Seagram's earnings. Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
took the unusual step of stating that the sale of the DuPont interest could result in a downgrade of Seagram's more than $4.2 billion of long-term debt.
The rationale for this divestiture was that Edgar Bronfman, Jr., grandson of Samuel Bronfman, wanted Seagram to branch out into the entertainment business. Bronfman, Jr., used the proceeds of the sale to help acquire Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, and Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
. Seagram also gained control of a number of Universal theme parks.
In 1997, the Seagram Museum
Seagram Museum
The Seagram Museum in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada was the city's final operational remnant of the world-renowned distillery founded by Waterloo entrepreneur Joseph E. Seagram in the mid-19th century.The museum operated from May 1984 to March 1997...
, formerly the original Seagram distillery in Waterloo, was forced to close due to lack of funds. The building is now the home of the Centre for International Governance Innovation
Centre for International Governance Innovation
The Centre for International Governance Innovation is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. Led by experienced practitioners and academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements...
. The two original barrel houses are now the Seagrams Lofts condominiums. There are also almost 5 acres (2 ha) of land that will be the home of the future Balsillie School of International Affairs.
In 2000, controlling interest in Seagram's entertainment division was acquired by the Vivendi Group, and the beverage division by Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
. By the time Vivendi auctioned off Seagram's drink business, beyond its original high-profile brand names the once renowned operation consisted of around two hundred and fifty drinks brands and brand extensions.
In 2002, The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
acquired the line of Seagram's mixers (ginger ale, tonic water, club soda and seltzer water) from Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
and Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
, as well as signing a long term agreement to use the Seagram's name from Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
. Seagram's Ginger Ale was named the winner at the 2009 World Cup of Ginger Ale in Chicago.
On April 19, 2006, Pernod Ricard announced that they would be closing the Seagram Lawrenceburg Distillery located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Dearborn County...
. However, the distillery was instead sold in 2007 to CL Financial
CL Financial
CL Financial – before its financial breakdown that became evident after a liquidity crisis and government intervention in 2009 – was the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean...
, a holding company based in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
which then collapsed and required government intervention. In October 2011, MGP Ingredients announced that it had reached an agreement (subject to further approval requirements) to purchase the distillery.
See also
- Seagram's Seven CrownSeagram's Seven CrownSeagram's Seven Crown, otherwise known as Seagram's Seven, is a blend of American whisky produced by Diageo under the Seagram name. Seagram's beverage division was acquired by Diageo, Pernod, and PepsiCo in 2000.- Sales history:...
- Canadian whiskyCanadian whiskyCanadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles...
- WhiskyWhiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
- Distilled beverageDistilled beverageA distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...