Crown Beverages Limited was founded and incorporated as Lake Victoria Bottling Company on 29th March 1950. Then, the Uganda government owned the majority shares while a few elite indigenous Ugandans owned the minority shares. In 1965, LVBC became the Pepsi Cola franchise in Uganda and started bottling global soft drinks including; Pepsi, Mirinda, Gingerly among others. In December 1997, CBL went into joint ownership with International Pepsi Cola Bottling Investments, (IPCBI) of South Africa, who bought 51% shares in the CBL and injected in more capital and also had a controlling team.