redirects here . the kirin owned australian dairy and juice manufacturer national foods has been merged with lion . this article has an unclear citation style . the references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation footnoting or external linking . october 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message lion type subsidiary industry food and beverage founded 1923 new zealand breweries 1977 lion breweries 1988 lion nathan 2009 lion nathan national foods headquarters sydney australia key people chairman sir rod eddington ao ; ceo stuart irvine products beer wine dairy juices rtds and spirits revenue a 5.6 billion 2015 owner mitsubishi keiretsu through kirin holdings number of employees around 7000 subsidiaries lion dairy & drinks website www.lionco.com 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 & major dairy player 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 1 and merged the business with national foods which it owned since 2007 . in 2011 the company changed its name to lion . with national foods becoming a subsequent subsidiary called lion dairy & drinks based in melbourne . the company employs over 7000 people . the company was formed in 1988 with the merger of ld nathan & co and lion breweries 2 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 . 3 4 5 the takeover was implemented on 21 october 2009 and the company was delisted . 6 contents 1 history 2 breweries 2.1 castlemaine perkins brewery 2.2 south australian brewing company 3 australian beer brands 3.1 tooheys 3.2 castlemaine xxxx 3.3 hahn 3.4 james squire 3.5 j. boag & son 3.6 west end 3.7 southwark 3.8 swan brewery 3.9 emu brewery 3.10 other brands 4 new zealand beer brands 4.1 speight s 4.2 lion 4.3 steinlager 4.4 mac s craft beers mccashins brewery 4.5 canterbury draught 4.6 emerson s brewery 4.7 other brands 5 international brands 5.1 brewed under licence 5.2 imported under licence 6 wines 7 spirits 8 milk products 8.1 capitol chilled foods 9 non alcoholic beverages and water ices 10 see also 11 references 12 external links history edit 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 . 7 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 . 2 8 the northern division of new zealand breweries adopted the name lion breweries in 1977 . campbell and ehrenfried bought 19.9 per cent of lion breweries in 1981 . by the late 1980s new zealand breweries had developed into one of new zealand s largest companies . in 1988 lion breweries took over ld nathan & co new zealand s largest retailer which at the time owned woolworths nz to form lion nathan . the same year woolworths general merchandise division was rebranded deka with ownership transferred to the farmers trading company in 1992 . in 1990 it became an australasian business when it established a major presence in australia by securing management control of bond corporation s brewing assets including the tooheys brewery in sydney and castlemaine perkins in brisbane . in 1998 douglas myers sold most of his 16 percent share in lion nathan to kirin brewery company of japan . 2 8 in 2005 lion nathan made a takeover bid for the independent south australian coopers brewery . the takeover was strongly opposed by coopers management and was rejected at an extraordinary general meeting when 93.4 % of the shareholders voted in favour of permanently removing the 3rd tier purchasing rights of lion nathan effectively preventing any current or future takeover bid . by 2009 the company was 46 % owned by kirin with the difference made up by australian and new zealand share funds . 9 in september 2009 shareholders voted in favour of a complete takeover by kirin holdings . 3 4 5 6 10 in june 2013 the company launched the tap king draught beer product that is sold with a co2 gas chamber so that consumers can drink draught beer at home . lionel richie appeared in a television commercial to promote the device and reportedly received a 1.5 million to appear in the promotional campaign . 11 the introduction of the tap king caused controversy due to the perceived impact upon alcohol venues . concerns were raised in regard to lower patronage rates for venues due to a greater incentive for consumers to drink beer in home environments . 12 breweries edit the company owns a number of breweries and contract bottling plants in australia and new zealand . 13 breweries in australia include castlemaine perkins brisbane qld xxxx west end southwark adelaide sa west end ; southwark knappstein enterprise brewery clare sa knappstein boags launceston tas james boag s little creatures fremantle wa little creatures ; white rabbit malt shovel camperdown nsw james squire ; new norcia abbey ale hahn camperdown nsw hahn tooheys lidcombe nsw tooheys breweries in new zealand include south island speight s dunedin speights 14 north island the pride south auckland lion castlemaine perkins brewery edit main article castlemaine perkins located in brisbane . castlemaine s signature beer xxxx bitter was introduced in 1924 . the xxxx had been used for a sparkling ale since 1878 . south australian brewing company edit main article south australian brewing company the south australian brewing company was founded in 1859 . there were two breweries one in the west end of the adelaide city centre producing west end beers and the other at thebarton on the banks of the river torrens north west of the city centre producing southwark beers pronounced su thik . the west end brewery was closed between the wars and the operations consolidated with the southwark brewery operations at the thebarton site . according to legend the black and red colours of the sa brewing company came about after the west adelaide football club whose colours are black and red defeated port adelaide in the 1909 south australian national football league sanfl australian rules football grand final . the legend states that had west adelaide not won the match the brewery s colours would have become the black and white of port adelaide . citation needed west end draught remains the largest selling beer in south australia . west end draught is a currently a 4.5 % abv pale lager first brewed in 1859 . 15 the brand is actively involved with the sanfl was the original sponsor of the showdown in the australian football league and is one of the sponsors of the slowdown charity football match . the tradition of painting the thebarton brewery chimney with the team colours of the sanfl premiership finalists began in 1954 . 16 other beers brewed under the west end brand are west end export west end gold and west end light . prior to the acquisition of the brewing assets by lion nathan in 1993 sa brewing split its brewing assets into sa brewing holdings and its diversified operations were formed into a new listed company named southcorp . one of southcorp s major assets was southcorp wines acquired from the adelaide steamship company in 1990 and subsequently acquired by lion main australian rival the foster s group . australian beer brands edit tooheys edit tooheys new tooheys extra dry castlemaine xxxx edit xxxx gold xxxx bitter xxxx summer bright lager hahn edit hahn super dry hahn premium light hahn premium james squire edit james squire logo james squire is produced by the malt shovel brewery in sydney . the beer is named after the convict brewer james squire who is claimed to have created australia s first commercial brewery . the brewery has won various awards including champion australasian brewery 2000 and 2003 australian international beer awards 17 and best bohemian style pilsener 2008 world beer cup . 18 regular brews as of september 2011 update the malt shovel brewery produces seven main brews under the james squire brand nine tales amber ale is a handcrafted english style brown ale consisting of a blend of pale and crystal malts three distinct hops and a 140 year old top fermenting ale yeast . alcohol content 5.0 % the chancer golden ale is an english style summer ale created with toasted grains of wheat and barley combined with new season amarillo hops . alcohol content 4.5 % four wives pilsener is brewed using pale and munich malts saaz hops and lager yeast . james squire pilsener is the company s most awarded beer . alcohol content 5.0 % stowaway india pale ale i.p.a. has robust malty flavours and earthy floral aromas from dry hopping with english fuggles . alcohol content 5.6 % jack of spades porter is a dark beer consisting of five different malts combined with roasted barley and wheat . porter has a longer maturation than the other james squire brews . alcohol content 5.0 % sundown lager is an australian style lager made with 100 % malt and a blend of local and english hop varieties . one fifty lashes pale ale is an australian style pale ale consisting of a blend of wheat and pale barley malt with a late addition of nelson sauvin & amarillo and willamette hops . alcohol content 4.2 % the constable copper ale is a traditional english copper ale made with galaxy and topaz hops . at 3.4 % alcohol per volume the constable is true to its inspiration and a classic thirst quencher . speciality brews occasionally the brewery creates seasonal speciality brews which are typically sold as limited release products produced in much smaller quantities than the regular brews . past seasonal beers include hop thief ale australian strong ale rum rebellion porter pepperberry winter ale malt runner j. boag & son edit james boag s premium james boag s premium light boag s draught classic blonde xxx ale james boag s pure beers no longer in production boag s 1881 boag s strongarm boag s st george west end edit west end draught west end export 19 no longer produced west end gold 20 no longer produced west end light 21 no longer produced southwark edit southwark bitter southwark premium no longer produced southwark stout swan brewery edit swan draught swan stout emu brewery edit emu bitter emu export emu draft other brands edit knappstein reserve lager clare valley south australia gulf lager new norcia abbey ale brewed under licence by malt shovel nsw new zealand beer brands edit speight s edit speight s 22 gold medal ale speight s old dark speight s pale ale speight s distinction ale speight s porter speight s pilsener speight s summit lager speight s traverse lager despite their descriptions all speight s beers are lagers . lion edit lion red 23 lion brown lion ice steinlager edit steinlager 24 steinlager premium light steinlager edge steinlager pure steinlager super cold mac