Oriental Brewery
Seoul, South Korea · Est. 1952
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Home of Cass. AB InBev sold it, watched it grow, then bought it back for about four times what they let it go for.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1952Founded
Oriental Brewery begins brewing in Seoul.
- 2009Sold to private equity
InBev sells South Korea's largest brewer to private equity for roughly $1.8 billion during the debt-heavy aftermath of the Anheuser-Busch takeover.
- 2014Bought back by AB InBev
AB InBev reacquires Oriental Brewery in 2014 for around $5.8 billion — roughly four times what it sold for five years earlier. One of the few breweries in this archive its owner sold and then paid a premium to get back.
The Beer Library
Beers
Cass
Year-RoundPale Lager
Oriental Brewery launched Cass in 1994, more than four decades after Doosan Group founded the company. The brand has bounced between global owners more than once — sold off by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2009, bought back in 2014 — and in 2011 it overtook Hite to become South Korea's best-selling beer, a title it has held ever since.
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How it changed hands
2 recorded moves- 1952Founded
- 2009Sold to private equity
InBev sells South Korea's largest brewer to private equity for roughly $1.8 billion during the debt-heavy aftermath of the Anheuser-Busch takeover.
- 2014Bought back by AB InBev
AB InBev reacquires Oriental Brewery in 2014 for around $5.8 billion — roughly four times what it sold for five years earlier. One of the few breweries in this archive its owner sold and then paid a premium to get back.
Today the chain tops out at Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Show your working
Sources
- controlConfirmed
Oriental Brewery is controlled by Founder / family.
Anheuser-Busch InBev — SEC filing · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2026-02
PrimaryHigh reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-05Reviewed 2026-08-05
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Oriental Brewery
- Who owns Oriental Brewery?
- Oriental Brewery is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Oriental Brewery is based in Seoul, South Korea.
- Is Oriental Brewery still independent?
- No. Oriental Brewery is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev and is no longer independent.
- When was Oriental Brewery acquired?
- 2009. InBev sells South Korea's largest brewer to private equity for roughly $1.8 billion during the debt-heavy aftermath of the Anheuser-Busch takeover.
- When was Oriental Brewery founded?
- Oriental Brewery was founded in 1952 in Seoul, South Korea.
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