FEMSA

FEMSA originated from the Cervecería Cuauhtemoc brewery, which was established by Isaac Garza Garza in 1890. In 1909, Garza founded Vidriera Monterrey (now Vitro) to produce bottles for the Cuauhtémoc brewery.

The vertical strategic integration of Cervecería Cuauhtemoc began in 1936, with the establishment of Fábricas Monterrey, S.A. de C.V. for the production of bottle caps. Packaging operations expanded in 1957 with the production of labels and flexible packaging. During this period, FEMSA's operations were part of what became known as Grupo Monterrey (lit. the Monterrey Group), which also included interests in banking, steel, and other packaging operations.

In 1974, Grupo Monterrey was divided into two branches by the descendants of the founding families of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc. The steel and packaging operations gave rise to the creation of Corporación Siderúrgica S.A. (later consolidated into Grupo ALFA), which would be controlled by the Garza Sada family, and the beverage and banking operations led to the creation of FEMSA, whose control fell to the Garza Lagüera family. FEMSA was listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange on September 19, 1978.

In 1985, Cuauhtémoc merged with Moctezuma to form Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma. FEMSA then undertook an extensive corporate and financial restructuring that was completed in December 1988. In 1993, Coca-Cola purchased a 30 percent stake in FEMSA, creating the Coca-Cola FEMSA division. In January 2006, FEMSA Cerveza acquired Kaiser Cervejarias from Molson Coors Brewing Co. On December 19, 2006, Coca-Cola FEMSA announced its attempt to buy out Mexican juice producer Jugos del Valle. It was acquired in 2007.

On December 20, 2007, Cascade Investments LLC, whose main partner is Bill Gates, announced it would invest $390 million in FEMSA. The Reuters news agency stated that after this investment, "Gates owns a 1.2 percent stake in Femsa's Series B shares, a 5 percent stake in Series D-B shares, and a 5 percent stake in Series D-L shares." This investment caused the Bill and Melinda Gates' foundation to become the institutional holder possessing the most shares of FEMSA.

On January 11, 2010, the Dutch brewing company Heineken International purchased FEMSA Cerveza (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma), the beer operations of FEMSA, in a stock swap that left FEMSA a 20% owner in the Heineken. In 2011, Coca-Cola FEMSA acquired regional Mexican Coke bottler Grupo Cimsa for 11 billion MXN (US$838 million). In July 2012, Coca-Cola FEMSA announced that it had purchased Lácteos Santa Clara, one of the largest dairy bottlers in Mexico. In August 2015, FEMSA, through its subsidiary FEMSA Comercio entered the drugstore business in South America by acquiring a majority interest in Socofar, a leading South American drugstore operator based in Santiago, Chile. In March 2017, FEMSA's Imbera division announced their shift to hydrocarbons in manufacturing their Coke beverage coolers. The company enacted the manufacturing shift in order to meet higher efficiency standards. In October 2017, FEMSA Logistica rebranded to Solistica.

In early 2019, FEMSA, through its subsidiary FEMSA Comercio, acquired Ecuadorean company Corporacion GPF. In September 2019, FEMSA signed a deal to acquire a minority stake in Jetro Restaurant Depot. In November 2019, FEMSA Logistics subsidiary Solistica completed their acquisition of Brazilian company AGV. Also in November 2019, FEMSA Comercio closed the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Raizen Conveniencias.

In March 2020, FEMSA acquired a majority stake in WAXIE Sanitary Supply and North American Corporation, to form a new platform within the Jan-San, Packaging and Specialized distribution industry in the United States. In 2022, FEMSA acquired Swiss retail and food service holding company Valora, which operates multiple brands of convenience stores and quick service food outlets in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. In May 2023, FEMSA sold €333 million in Heineken N.V. to the company. FEMSA will no longer hold any shares in Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. other than the Heineken Holding N.V. shares underlying the exchangeable bond.

Proximity division

FEMSA Comercio operates OXXO, the leading convenience store chain in Mexico and a growing portfolio of other small-format retail chains in Latin America.

OXXO, a subsidiary of FEMSA, was established in 1978. In 2010, OXXO, a subsidiary of FEMSA Comercio, partnered with Heineken Mexico. OXXO's ten-year agreement with Heineken Mexico was renegotiated in early 2019.

In 2013 the FEMSA group acquired an 80% holding in the Mexican arm of restaurant chain Gorditas Doña Tota for US$120 million, their interest being limited to operations within Mexico. Operations within the United States remain in the hands of the original business owners. The company operates as a subsidiary of Femsa Comercio S.A. de C.V. As of 2017 the company claims more than 200 restaurants in 60 Mexican cities and towns. Gorditas Doña Tota started in 1952 when Carlota Murillo of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas began selling gorditas on the street, from a cart on the sidewalk.

Health division

In November 2012, FEMSA announced it had purchased a 75 percent controlling stake in convenience store Farmacias Yza. In May 2013, FEMSA announced the acquisition of another convenience store, Farmacias FM Moderna.