Lion (Australasian company)

Lion is a beverage and food company that operates in Australia and New Zealand and produces and markets a range of beer, wine, cider, RTDs, spirits, plain and flavoured milks, yogurts, cheese, juice and soy products. Lion was formed in October 2009 under the name ‘Lion Nathan National Foods’, when Kirin Holdings Company Limited purchased brewer Lion Nathan and merged the business with National Foods which it owned since 2007. In 2011, it changed its name to Lion. The company employs over 7000 people.

The company was formed in 1988 with the merger of LD Nathan & Co and Lion Breweries, and was listed on both the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges under the symbol LNN. On 17 September 2009, Lion Nathan shareholders overwhelmingly voted to accept a 100% takeover offer by Kirin. The takeover was implemented on 21 October 2009, and the company was delisted.

History

The original forerunner of the company was Brown Campbell & Co, the company of Logan Campbell and William Brown who established the Hobson Bridge Brewery in Auckland in 1840. By 1897 it was the largest brewery in the North Island if not the country. In May 1897 Brown Campbell & Co amalgamated with Louis Ehrenfried's Albert Brewery, which he had bought in 1878, to form Campbell and Ehrenfried. The new company was managed by Arthur Myers, Ehrenfried's nephew. In 1914 Campbell and Ehrenfried merged with the Great Northern Brewery, which owned the Lion brand. In 1923 ten breweries amalgamated to form New Zealand Breweries. Campbell and Ehrenfried merged its breweries into New Zealand Breweries but remained a separate company. Douglas Myers, grandson of Arthur Myers, became CEO of Campbell and Ehrenfried in 1965.