FEMSA

Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., doing business asFEMSA, is a Mexicanmultinationalbeverageandretailcompany headquartered inMonterrey,Mexico. It operates the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world and the largestconvenience storechain in Mexico. It is also a shareholder ofHeineken N.V.
FEMSA reported revenues of US$26.9 billion for 2019, making it the fifth largest company of Mexico.It has operations inLatin Americamainly through bottling plants, convenience stores, drugstores, fuel stations, and third-party logistic services, and in theUnited States, where it participates in the jan-san distribution industry. It is well known in Mexico for its convenience store chainOxxo, it previously ownedCuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery(exchanged in 2010 for a 20% stake inHeineken N.V.), and for being the owner ofC.F. Monterrey, aLiga MXfootballteam.
FEMSA has been listed  on theMexican Stock Exchangesince 1978 and on theNYSEthroughADRssince 1998. It is a constituent of theIPC, the main benchmark index of theMexican Stock Exchange, and of theS&P Latin America 40, which includes leading,blue chipcompanies fromLatin America.
FEMSA originated from theCervecería Cuauhtemocbrewery, which was established byIsaac Garza Garzain 1890.In 1909, Garza foundedVidriera Monterrey(nowVitro) to produce bottles for the Cuauhtémoc brewery.
The vertical strategic integration ofCervecería Cuauhtemocbegan in 1936, with the establishment ofFábricas Monterrey, S.A. de C.V.for the production of bottle caps. Packaging operations expanded in 1957 with the production of labels and flexible packaging. During this period, FEMSA's operations were part of what became known asGrupo Monterrey(lit.the Monterrey Group), which also included interests in banking, steel, and other packaging operations.
In 1974,Grupo Monterreywas divided into two branches by the descendants of the founding families ofCervecería Cuauhtémoc. The steel and packaging operations gave rise to the creation ofCorporación Siderúrgica S.A.(later consolidated intoGrupo ALFA), which would be controlled by the Garza Sada family, and the beverage and banking operations led to the creation of FEMSA, whose control fell to the Garza Lagüera family. FEMSA was listed on theMexican Stock Exchangeon September 19, 1978.
In 1985, Cuauhtémoc merged with Moctezuma to form Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma.FEMSA then undertook an extensive corporate and financial restructuring that was completed in December 1988.
In 1993, Coca-Cola purchased a 30 percent stake in FEMSA, creating the Coca-Cola FEMSA division.
In January 2006, FEMSA Cerveza acquiredKaiser CervejariasfromMolson Coors Brewing Co.
On December 19, 2006, Coca-Cola FEMSA announced its attempt to buy out Mexican juice producerJugos del Valle. It was acquired in 2007.
On December 20, 2007,Cascade Investments LLC, whose main partner isBill 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, theDutchbrewing companyHeineken Internationalpurchased 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.
In 2022, FEMSA acquired Swiss retail and food service holding companyValora, which operates multiple brands of convenience stores and quick service food outlets in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
In May 2023,  FEMSA sold €333 million inHeineken N.V.to the company. FEMSA will no longer hold any shares in Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. other than the Heineken Holding N.V. shares underlying the exchangeable bond.
FEMSA Comercio operatesOXXO, 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.
In 2013 the FEMSA group acquired an 80% holding in the Mexican arm ofrestaurant chainGorditas Doña Tota for US$120 million, their interest being limited to operations within Mexico.Operations within the United States remain in the hands of the original business owners.The company operates as a subsidiary of Femsa Comercio S.A. de C.V.As of 2017 the company claims more than 200 restaurants in 60 Mexican cities and towns.Gorditas Doña Tota started in 1952 when Carlota Murillo ofCiudad Victoria, Tamaulipasbegan sellinggorditason the street, from a cart on the sidewalk.
In November 2012, FEMSA announced it had purchased a 75 percent controlling stake in convenience store Farmacias Yza.In May 2013, FEMSA announced the acquisition of another convenience store, Farmacias FM Moderna.
In September 2015, FEMSA Comercio acquired a controlling stake in SOCOFAR.In December 2015, FEMSA, through FEMSA Comercio, acquired SOCOFAR, a Chilean drugstore company operating the Cruz Verde drugstore network in Chile and Colombia. SOCOFAR was founded in the 1980s and is the largest drugstore chain in Chile, a strong presence in Colombia.
In September 2018, FEMSA, through FEMSA Comercio, announced the acquisition of Ecuadorian drugstore chains Fybeca and SanaSana.
In May 2019, FEMSA Comercio completed its acquisition of Fybeca.FEMSA Comercio announced in December 2019 plans to acquire the remaining 40 percent minority stake of SOCOFAR.FEMSA acquired the remaining stake in SOCOFAR in January 2020.
OXXO Gas is an affiliate of OXXO, and as of 2020 operates approximately 550 stations in 17 Mexican states.
FEMSA owns 47.9% of the world's largest bottler ofCoca-Colaby volume, Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF), which operates in ten countries covering the metropolitan area of Mexico City, southeast Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Coca-Cola FEMSA is theanchor bottlerofCoca-Colaand its relatedsoft drinkproducts in much ofLatin America.  The company is an important part of theCoca-Cola System.  During 2019, the company produced and sold 11.1% of Coca-Cola's volume worldwide.  This makes it the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world.
The company is owned 47.9% by FEMSA, 28.1% byThe Coca-Cola Companyand the remaining interest trades on theNew York Stock Exchangeand theMexico City Stock Exchange.The company is headquartered inMonterrey.
The company is the bottler of Coca-Cola in half of Mexico (including Mexico City, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Veracruz, Puebla and Michoacan) theBuenos Airesregion ofArgentina,São Pauloand other areas ofBrazil, greaterGuatemala City,Guatemala, most ofColombia, and all ofCosta Rica,Nicaragua,Panama,Venezuelaand thePhilippines(until 2018).
The company also distributesbeerand bottled water in some of its territories.
On 29 June 2011, was announced that FEMSA will merge to the bottling division ofGrupo Tampico, agreeing to pay 9.3 billionpesos(790 milliondollars) in stock for theCokebottling operations of Grupo Tampico.In September 2011, Coca-Cola FEMSA acquired Grupo Cimsa, a Coke bottler in Morelos, Mexico, Guerrero and Michoacan.
FEMSA Negocios Estratégicos (formerly known as FEMSA Insumos Estratégicos) provides logistics, point-of-sale refrigeration solutionsand plastics solutionsto FEMSA's business units and third-party clients. It is subsequently divided into:
Solistica is a third-party logistics provider for a number of industries, including pharmaceuticals, automotive, technology, and consumer goods. Solistica manages primary distribution for Coca-Cola FEMSA and Heineken and secondary distribution for FEMSA Comercio's Proximity Division.
Imbera manufactures equipment for the soft drink, beer and food service industries, including coolers, food processing, storage and weighing equipment.Imbera has manufacturing plants in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.
PTM provides solutionsand develops "plastic transformation projects" tailored to FEMSA Enterprises and third-party clients in terms of materials handling, automobiles, and food/beverages. Their capacity includes the different plastic manufacturing processes: blowing, injecting, heat forming, and extrusion.