Mid Sweden University

The Swedish brewery industry has historically been through multiple waves of mergers & acquisitions (M&A), resulting in consolidation of the industry – a trend also seen in other countries. The driving forces behind such waves and the functions of cartels are subjects of debate, and there is more to discover regarding the historical Swedish brewery cartel and the firms that were active in the industry.

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to analyze how M&A have been used as a tool to restructure industries and to further understand how historical actors and institutions interacted. It applies institutional and network theory to conduct a case study, aiming to deepen understanding of how M&A was used to reshape the brewery industry around the city of Gävle between 1920 and 1945: from several local firms to a single regional monopoly.

Primary source material has mainly been gathered from archives deposited in the Gävle municipal archives, consisting primarily of protocols and records from firms which were active in the city during the timeframe. This material has been analyzed using predominantly, though not exclusively, qualitative and historical methods.

Several key results have emerged from this research. A multitude of driving forces was acting in favor of consolidation. There was a stable network between certain firms prior to any joint M&A-activity. The economic shock of the second world war brought additional pressure, in particular regarding distribution possibilities for the firms, to consolidate. The cartel took an active role and worked in favor of consolidation through M&A-activity – however the cartels power on a local level was also surprisingly limited.

In this case, M&A served as a tool in the interaction between actor and institution, used to bring firms in compliance with the cartel system and to reduce the total number of firms.