Who owns Sleeman?
Sleeman is owned by Sapporo (Japan, TSE: 2501).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Sapporo Breweries Ltd. Medium-Term Management Plan (2027–30). Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Sapporo Breweries Ltd. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Tokyo
- Origin
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- Founded
- 1988
- Category
- Beverages › Beer › Lager
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 2501
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Sleeman
Sleeman is a Canadian beer brand revived in 1988 by John W. Sleeman, great-great-grandson of the brewer John H. Sleeman, whose family brewery in Guelph, Ontario was shut in 1933 for bootlegging beer to the United States. Sleeman Breweries, which calls itself Canada's third-largest national brewer, is owned by Sapporo, and since 2002 it has also brewed Sapporo beer under contract for most of Japan's export markets.
Ownership timeline of Sleeman
Where Sleeman sits in Sapporo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Sapporo ownership tree →
See the full Sapporo brand portfolio (8) →
Other brands owned by Sapporo
Sapporo controls 8 brands on Brandtree, 8 of them in beverages.
Also in beverages
Other brands in lager, and who owns them
The 200 brands in lager on Brandtree belong to 55 owners. The largest is AB InBev, with 17; Sapporo has 4.
About the owner: Sapporo
Sapporo is a publicly listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1876. Brandtree records 8 brands under its control, and it is listed as TSE: 2501.
Sapporo traces its beginnings to the Kaitakushi Brewery founded in Sapporo, Hokkaido in 1876. The listed company, formerly the pure holding company Sapporo Holdings, became a business holding company and changed its name to Sapporo Breweries Ltd. on 1 July 2026, with revenue of 506.9 billion yen in 2025. It is concentrating on alcoholic beverages: in December 2025 it agreed to sell its real estate subsidiary, owner of Yebisu Garden Place and Sapporo Factory, to a consortium of PAG and KKR in stages ending in 2029, and in April 2026 it agreed to transfer the Stone craft beer brand to Firestone Walker.
🇨🇦 Sleeman and other Canadian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 179 brands that began in Canada. 46 of them (26%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Sleeman among them.
- Big 8 — Empire 🇨🇦
- Black Velvet — Heaven Hill 🇺🇸
- Canada Dry — Keurig Dr Pepper 🇺🇸
- Carling — Molson Coors 🇺🇸
- Crown Royal — Diageo 🇬🇧
- Fruité — Lassonde 🇨🇦
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Sleeman?
The parent company of Sleeman is Sapporo, a publicly listed company headquartered in Japan.
Is Sleeman Canadian or Japanese?
Sleeman originated in Canada in 1988, but it is owned today by Sapporo, which is headquartered in Japan. So Sleeman is a Canadian-origin brand under Japanese ownership.
Is Sleeman still owned by Sapporo?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Sleeman is still owned by Sapporo. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Sapporo Breweries Ltd. Medium-Term Management Plan (2027–30) — Sapporo Breweries Ltd., Official document; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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