Diageo - USD Company profile
Diageo is a global producer of well-known alcoholic beverages. Its collection of over 200 brands includes Baileys, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. The company has a presence in 180 countries.
A member of the FTSE100, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker DGE. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol DEO.
Diageo was founded in 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness. In 2000, it consolidated its operations to focus on premium alcoholic beverages.
Years of acquisitions followed. In 2001, the London-based company acquired some of the Seagram wine and spirits business. Ten years later, the company purchased Turkey’s leading spirits producer, Mey Içki, for £1.3bn.
In 2012, Diageo announced a £1bn investment in Scottish whisky production. That same year, it acquired the Meta Abo Brewery in Ethiopia, Shui Jing Fang in China, Hanoi Vodka in Vietnam and Ypióca in Brazil. Two years later, it acquired Peligroso Tequila from the California-based Peligroso Spirits Company.
To further concentrate on its liquor business, in 2015 the company sold the world-famous Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland to Ennismore, a private investment company.
On 24 January 2022, Diageo announced that it had agreed to sell the Meta Abo Brewery to BGI, part of Castel Group.
From 2021 to early 2022, the company made three acquisitions. In March 2021, Diageo acquired Far West Spirits, the owner of the Lone River Ranch Water (Lone River) brand. The following month, it bought US brand Loyal 9 Cocktails from the Sons of Liberty Spirits Company.
On 28 January 2022, the company completed the acquisition of Casa UM, owner of premium artisanal mezcal brand, Mezcal Unión.
Diageo has a market cap of $115.39bn as of February 2022, making it the world’s 123th most valuable company, according to Companies Market Cap.