Yahoo Finance Diageo downs George Clooney's tequila in $1bn deal
Drinks giant Diageo has agreed to pay up to $1bn to down George Clooney’s tequila company.
The group behind Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff made its offer just four years after Casamigos, or ‘house of friends’, was founded by the US actor alongside Cindy Crawford’s husband Rande Gerber and real estate developer Mike Meldman.
Diageo will pay the A-list trio $700m on completion of the deal later this year and a further $300m over the next ten years depending on the performance of the brand.
Mr Gerber said: “What started from a friendship and an idea to create the best tasting, smoothest tequila as our own house tequila to drink and share with friends, has quickly turned into the fastest growing super-premium tequila.”
The award-winning spirit-maker sold 120,000 cases last year and is on track to sell 170,000 cases by the end of 2017, mostly into the US market.
Ivan Menezes, Diageo’s chief executive, said the deal will extend Casamigo’s reach beyond the US through his company’s global distribution networks.
The brand will also help to expand Diageo’s presence in the high-growth tequila market and deepen its focus on “super-premium” spirits, he added.
In 2015 Diageo snapped up Don Julio Tequila from Jose Cuervo in exchange for giving the Mexico-based firm its Bushmills Irish whiskey brand.
It has also picked up minority stakes in other independent drinks makers through its Distill Ventures subsidiary which focuses on investing in start-up ventures. These include Australian whisky producer Starward and alcohol-free distilled ‘spirit’ Seedlip.
Diageo said the Casamigos founders will continue to be involved in the brand and will actively participate in its future growth.
Mr Clooney confirmed the plan, telling CNBC news: “We’ll still be very much a part of Casamigos. Starting with a shot tonight. Maybe two.”
