The original San Miguel Brewery was founded in 1890 in Manila. Later renamed as San Miguel Corporation (SMC) in 1963, it has grown into one of the Philippines' largest business conglomerates with interests in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food, packaging, power, oil and telecommunications.

San Miguel Brewery was spun off from SMC on October 1, 2007 and was subsequently listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 12, 2008. In 2009, Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. of Japan bought 48.3% of the company from SMC for PHP 8.841 per share