Summary

Registered in Victoria in 1907. The company was formed following the amalgamation of the following Breweries: Carlton Brewery Ltd; McCrackens' Ltd; City Brewery Ltd; City Brewery Ltd; Victoria; Castlemaine Brewery Company; Melbourne, Ltd; Shamrock Brewery and Malting Co (Collingwood) Ltd; Foster Brewing Co Ltd

The company was subsequently listed on the stock exchange in 1913.

In 1925 the company acquired Geelong Brewery; Fitzgerald's Brewing and Malting Co.; Victorian Brewery Co Ltd, Bendigo; and Melbourne Co-operative Brewery Co Ltd.

Over subsequent years the following companies were taken over a number of other brewing companies:
1931 Northern Australian Breweries Ltd
1958 Ballarat Brewing Co [brewing interests only]
1961 Queensland Brewery Ltd
1961 Rockhampton based Thos McLauchlin & Co Pty Ltd
1962 Richmond Brewery

In 1983 the company merged with Elders IXL and subsequently took over Tooth and Co.

Details

The company was incorporated in Victoria in May 1907. Made public in February 1913. Originally formed to merge the activities of six Melbourne brewers (Carlton, Victoria, McCracken's, Castlemaine, Shamrock and Foster). The Geelong Brewery was acquired in 1923; Cohn Bros., Victoria Brewery Co. Ltd., Melbourne Co-operative Brewing co. Ltd. and Fitzgerald's Brewery & Malting Co. Ltd in 1925; the brewing assets of Ballarat Brewing Co. in 1958, and the Richmond Nathan System Brewing Co. Pty Ltd in 1962.
A major development in July, 1961, was the acquisition of Queensland Brewery Limited, one of the two largest brewers in the state with breweries in Brisbane and Toowoomba. The company acquired Northern Australian Breweries Ltd, with a brewery in Cairns in 1931, and Thos. McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd., with a brewery in Rockhampton, in 1961. In 1972, Cummins & Campbell Ltd, a wine and spirit merchant and hotel owners was acquired. During 1978 the company acquired Samuel Allen & Sons Ltd., a leading North Queensland merchant specialising in ale, wine and spirits, with additional interests in builders supplies and general merchandise, refrigeration and air conditioning engineering and contracting.
In the 1970s the company also took up interest in a brewery in the Northern Territory.
During 1980/81 the Carlton group diversified its interests with the acquisition of substantial interest in the pastoral company Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort Ltd., and the food manufacturer Henry Jones IXL Ltd. Elders and Henry Jones merged to become Elders IXL Ltd, in which Carlton had a 49.4% shareholding.
During 1982, the company increased its interest in Cascade Brewery Co. Ltd to 25.5% and its interest in S.A. Brewing Holdings Limited to 22.7%.
In August 1983, the company acquired the brewing assets of Tooth & Co., this included the Lismore and Kent Breweries and distribution warehouses in Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Newcastle and Queanbeyan, in N.S.W.
The company was delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange, following the successful takeover by Elders IXL Limited (Henry Jones Investment Limited) on July 7, 1984.

Related entries

Timeline

 1881 - 1896 Melbourne Brewing and Malting Company Limited
 1883 - West End Brewery Pty Ltd
       1889 - 1896 Carlton and West End Brewery Limited
             1885 - 1959? Castlemaine Brewery Company Limited, Melbourne
             1887 - 1907? Shamrock Brewing and Malting Company (Collingwood) Limited
             1889 - 1959? Foster Brewing Company Limited
             1896 - 1959? Carlton Brewery Limited
             1905 - 1907 Victoria Brewery Pty Ltd
                   1907 - Carlton and United Breweries Limited

Archival resources

Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, (formerly Archives of Business and Labour)

• Carlton and United Breweries Limited records, 1895 - 1922, 9; Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, (formerly Archives of Business and Labour). Details

Published resources

Books

• Deutsher, Keith M., The breweries of Australia. A history., Includes brief histories of Australian brewing companies., Thomas C. Lothian Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, 1999, 374 pp. Details
• Dunstan, Keith, The Amber Nectar. A celebration of beer and brewing in Australia, Viking O'Neil, Victoria, 1987, 236 pp. Details
• Kilgore, A., A globalisation of Fosters: a case study of Elders IXL, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, School of Business, Kingswood, New South Wales, 1990, 32 pp. Details