Overall market reputation: very good
United Breweries Group or UB Group, based in Bangalore, is a conglomerate of different companies with a major focus on the brewery (beer) and alcoholic beverages industry. It is owned by Vijay Mallya former member of the Indian Parliament. United Breweries now has greater than a 42% share of the Indian brewery market with 79 distilleries and bottling units across the world. Recently UB financed a takeover of the spirits business of the rival Shaw-Wallace company making it one of the largest breweries of the world.
History
The UB Group was founded by a Scot, Thomas Leishman, in 1857. The Group took its initial lessons in manufacturing beer from South India based British breweries. In 1947, at the age of 22, Vittal Mallya was elected as the company's first Indian director. After a year, he replaced R G N Price as the chairman of the company.
United Breweries made its initial impact by manufacturing bulk beer for the British troops, which was transported in huge barrels or "Hogsheads". Kingfisher, the group's most visible and profitable brand, made a modest entry in the sixties. During the 1950s and 60s, the company expanded greatly by acquiring other breweries. First was the addition of McDowell as one of the Group subsidiaries, a move which helped United Breweries to extend its portfolio to wines and spirits business. Strategically, the Group moved into agro-based industries and medicines when Mallya acquired Kissan Products and formed a long-term relationship with Hoechst AG of Germany to create the Indian pharmaceutical company now known as Aventis Pharma
Businesses
§ Fertilizer
§ Kingfisher Airlines, one of India's youngest and most trusted fleets.
§ Beverage Alcohol
§ Aviation
§ Kingfisher Blue - Premium Beer
§ Kingfisher Red
§ Kingfisher Strong - Strong Beer
§ Kingfisher Premium - Mild Beer
§ Kingfisher Ultra
§ Kingfisher Draught
§ Royal Challenge
§ Whyte & Mackay
§ McDowell's No.1
And many more.
Strengths
§ Market leader
§ Strong brand image
§ Global presence
§ Aggressive advertising
§ Quality and innovation
§ Provides Cost Effective Solutions
Weaknesses
§ Long development cycles
§ Relative static market growth
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Nominal Value : Rs. 780
