Seagram Company Ltd.

Formerly the world's largest producer and marketer of distilled spirits. The company began when Distillers Corp., Ltd., a Montreal distillery owned by Samuel Bronfman, acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1928. The new company, Distillers Corp.-Seagrams Ltd., grew rapidly. Originally a maker of blended whiskies, the firm diversified in the 1950s and '60s into scotch, bourbon, rum, vodka, gin, and wines, which were sold around the world. In the 1990s it entered the field of music and entertainment, purchasing Universal Studios, media firm MCA, and the Dutch music giant Polygram NV. The company was acquired by French media conglomerate Vivendi in 2000 to form Vivendi Universal. The beverage businesses were later sold to Diageo and Pernod Ricard. See also Seagram Building.

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