Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., doing business as FEMSA, is a Mexican multinational beverage and retail company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. It operates the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world and the largest convenience store chain in Mexico. It is also shareholder of Heineken N.V.
FEMSA reported revenues of US$26.9 billion for 2019, making it the fifth largest company of Mexico. It has operations in Latin America mainly through bottling plants, convenience stores, drugstores, fuel stations, and third-party logistic services, and in the United States, where it participates in the jan-san distribution industry. It is well known in Mexico for its convenience store chain Oxxo, it previously owned Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery (exchanged in 2010 for a 20% stake in Heineken N.V.), and for being the owner of the C.F. Monterrey, a Mexican First-Division football team.
FEMSA has been listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange since 1978 and on the NYSE through ADRs since 1998. It is a constituent of the IPC, the main benchmark index of the Mexican Stock Exchange, and of the S&P Latin America 40, which includes leading, blue chip companies from Latin America.
History
Cuauhtémoc brewery was established in 1890.
In 1985, Cuauhtémoc merged with Moctezuma to form Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma. FEMSA was established from Grupo Visa in 1988.
In 1993, Coca-Cola purchased a 30 percent stake in FEMSA, creating the Coca-Cola FEMSA division.
In January 2006, FEMSA Cerveza acquired Kaiser Cervejarias from Molson Coors Brewing Co.
On December 19, 2006, Coca-Cola FEMSA announced its attempt to buy out Mexican juice producer Jugos del Valle. It was acquired in 2007.
On December 20, 2007, Cascade Investments LLC, whose main partner is Bill Gates, announced it would invest $390 million in FEMSA. The Reuters news agency stated that after this investment, "Gates owns a 1.2 percent stake in Femsa's Series B shares, a 5 percent stake in Series D-B shares, and a 5 percent stake in Series D-L shares." This investment caused the Bill and Melinda Gates' foundation to become the institutional holder possessing the most shares of FEMSA.
On January 11, 2010, the Dutch brewing company Heineken International purchased FEMSA Cerveza (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma), the beer operations of FEMSA, in a stock swap that left FEMSA a 20% owner in the Heineken.
In 2011, Coca-Cola FEMSA acquired regional Mexican Coke bottler Grupo Cimsa for 11 billion MXN (US$838 million).
In July 2012, Coca-Cola FEMSA announced that it had purchased Lácteos Santa Clara, one of the largest dairy bottlers in Mexico.
In August 2015, FEMSA, through its subsidiary FEMSA Comercio entered the drugstore business in South America by acquiring a majority interest in Socofar, a leading South American drugstore operator based in Santiago, Chile.
In March 2017, FEMSA's Imbera division announced their shift to hydrocarbons in manufacturing their Coke beverage coolers. The company enacted the manufacturing shift in order to meet higher efficiency standards. In October 2017, FEMSA Logistica rebranded to Solistica.
In early 2019, FEMSA, through its subsidiary FEMSA Comercio, acquired Ecuadorean company Corporacion GPF. In September 2019, FEMSA signed a deal to acquire a minority stake in Jetro Restaurant Depot. In November 2019, FEMSA Logistics subsidiary Solistica completed their acquisition of Brazilian company AGV. Also in November 2019, FEMSA Comercio closed the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Raizen Conveniencias.
In March 2020, FEMSA acquired a majority stake in WAXIE Sanitary Supply and North American Corporation, to form a new platform within the Jan-San, Packaging and Specialized distribution industry in the United States.
Divisions
FEMSA Comercio
Proximity division
FEMSA Comercio operates OXXO, the leading convenience store chain in Mexico and a growing portfolio of other small-format retail chains in Latin America.
OXXO, a subsidiary of FEMSA, was established in 1978. In 2010, OXXO, a subsidiary of FEMSA Comercio, partnered with Heineken Mexico. OXXO's ten-year agreement with Heineken Mexico was renegotiated in early 2019.