Who owns PRESIDENTE BEER?

PRESIDENTE BEER is owned by

ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

First Brewed

1935

Origin

Dominican Republic, Caribbean

Presidente beer is a popular brand that was created in the year 1935 by the Cervecería Nacional Dominicana in the capital city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The brewery was started 6 years earlier by American industrialist Charles H Wanzer along with a group of business partners. They curried favor with the Dominican government by naming the beer Presidente in honor of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, the brutal dictator who ruled the control until his death in 1961. The beer was originally brewed as a dark brew, and was met with limited success. However in the 1960s, the formulation of the beer changed, and it became a lighter pilsner. Sales of the new beer took off, and Presidente soon became a leader in the Dominican Republic beer market.

In 1986, it was purchased by Grupo León Jimenes, the cigarette conglomerate and owner of rival Dominican brewery Cervecería Bohemia. Soon thereafter, Heineken purchased 9.3% of the brewery. In 2012, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken fought to acquire the brand, with each submitting bids of over a billion dollars for Cervecería Nacional Dominica. At the time, the group had over a 90% share of the market, in a country with over 10 million people. In the end, Anheuser-Busch InBev purchased a majority stake in the company through their subsidiary AmBev by paying Grupo León Jimenes $1.2 billion for a 41.7% stake, and paying Heineken $200 million for the entirety of their ownership in the company. They now own a majority of the brand, with Grupo León Jimenes owning 49%.

Presidente comes in at 5% alcohol by volume, and is brewed at several breweries owned by CND throughout the nation of the Dominican Republic.