Diageo acquires Clooney’s Casamigos tequila for up to $1bn
The brand is growing at 40% to 50% and is on track to sell 170,000 12-bottle cases this year — but some still think the price a little high
London — George Clooney may be the face of fancy coffee, but it’s in premium tequila that he just hit the real jackpot. Diageo has agreed to acquire fast-growing tequila brand Casamigos, co-founded four years ago by Clooney, for as much as $1bn. The deal expands the London-based distiller’s line-up in a fast-growing category, where it already owns the Don Julio, DeLeon and Peligroso brands. The purchase will be Diageo’s biggest since its $3.2bn acquisition of United Spirits in 2014. After that deal boosted its presence in India, the owner of the Smirnoff brand is moving to strengthen its US business, which has returned to growth after a difficult stretch following a slowdown in vodka sales. Meanwhile, tequila volume in the US more than doubled from 2002 through 2015, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Clooney, better known for his role in movies such as Ocean’s Eleven and as a pitchman for Nespresso coffee, created Casamigos in 2013 with developer Mike Meldman and entertain...
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