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Grand Metropolitan plc was a property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form Diageo in 1997. ==History== The business began in 1934 as a hotel business called ''MRMA Ltd'' (abbreviated from Mount Royal Metropolitan Association).〔(Competition Commission Report 1983 )〕 Grand Hotels (Mayfair) Ltd, a business founded after World War II by Maxwell Joseph, merged with MRMA in 1957〔(Sir Maxwell Joseph ) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography〕 and the combined business expanded rapidly under Joseph's leadership.〔(Sir Maxwell Joseph ) Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 23 September 1982〕 It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1961〔 and changed its name to Grand Metropolitan Hotels Ltd in 1962.〔 It diversified into catering acquiring Bateman Catering in 1967〔 and then Midland Catering in 1968.〔 It then bought Express Dairies in 1969,〔(Competition Commission Report 1990 )〕 the Berni Inn chain,〔 and the Mecca bingo halls in 1970.〔 Next came its move into brewing, when in 1972 it bought Truman, Hanbury & Buxton and Watney Mann including the latter's subsidiary International Distillers & Vintners which owned the J&B whisky, Bailey's Irish Cream, Gilbey's gin, Piat wine and Croft sherry and port brands, as well as the European and Commonwealth rights to Smirnoff vodka.〔 It changed its name to Grand Metropolitan in 1973.〔 In 1980 it bought Liggett Group, a US tobacco and drinks business.〔 In 1981 it bought Warner Holidays and Intercontinental Hotels Corporation.〔 In 1986 the Company sold the Liggett Group to Bennett S. LeBow.〔(Liggett Vector Brands )〕 It acquired Heublein wines and spirits in 1987, which made it one of the largest producers of wines and spirits in the world, and gave the company ownership of the Smirnoff brand.〔(Grand Metropolitan to buy Nabisco's Heublein ) New York Times, 17 January 1987〕 Also in 1987 the Company withdrew from catering when it disposed of its catering division by way of a management buyout so creating Compass Group.〔(Caterersearch )〕 In 1988, having sold Intercontinental Hotels to Japanese based Saison Group, it expanded its core betting operations by buying William Hill.〔(William Hill: History )〕 It also entered the fast food industry by buying the Pillsbury Company and with it the Burger King chain in 1988.〔(U.S. Investors Agree to Buy Burger King From Diageo for $2.26 Billion ) New York Times, 26 July 2002〕 It also bought the Wimpy Bar chain that year and merged it with Burger King.〔(Grand Metropolitan to buy Fast Food Chain ) New York Times, 8 August 1989〕 It continued to sell non-core business, including in 1990 the brewers Samuel Webster's and in 1991 Ushers of Trowbridge.〔(Ushers goes private with Fresh Venture Capital bid ) The Independent, 22 December 1998〕 The Company merged with Guinness plc in 1997 to form Diageo.〔(Spirits soar at Diageo ) Food & Drug Packaging, July 2005〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Grand Metropolitan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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