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Table of Contents

Seagram Company Ltd.

Canadian company
Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Updated:
Table of Contents
Date:
1928 - 2002
Ticker:
DEO
Share price:
$142.3 (mkt close, Apr. 10, 2024)
Market cap:
$80.36 bil.
Annual revenue:
$21.43 bil.
Earnings per share (prev. year):
$0.0
Sector:
Manufacturing
Industry:
Beverages
CEO:
Ivan Menezes

Seagram Company Ltd., former Canadian corporation that was the world’s largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits.

The company began when Distillers Corp., Ltd., a Montreal distillery owned by Samuel Bronfman, acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1928. The new company, named Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd., grew rapidly during the later years of the Prohibition era and in the 1930s. By the 1940s the firm had become the largest distiller in both Canada and the United States. Under the leadership of the founder’s son, Edgar M. Bronfman, who became head of the company in 1971, the firm diversified during the 1950s and ’60s from its original base of blended whiskies into the production and marketing of Scotch, bourbon, rum, vodka, gin, and many different wines. It also expanded into the European, Latin American, East Asian, and African markets. Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr., succeeded his father in 1989 and began selling the company’s liquor businesses to competitors while purchasing entertainment companies such as MCA (including Universal Pictures) and Polygram NV. Seagram merged with French media companies Canal Plus and Vivendi in 2000. By 2002 all of Seagram’s assets had been acquired by other companies.