Yahoo News Guinness owner breaks silence over uncertain future and potential sale
The owner of Guinness has broken its silence over claims it could be sold. Diageo PLC on Sunday ruled out a sale of the Guinness brand and its stake in Moet Hennessy - weeks on from a shortage causing chaos across UK pubs before Christmas.
"We note the recent media speculation around the Guinness brand and our stake in Moet Hennessy and we can confirm that we have no intention to sell either," the London-based brewer said in a brief statement issued on Sunday.
On Friday, Bloomberg News reported that Diageo was mulling a sale of Guinness, as well as its 34% stake in Moet Hennessy, the drinks division of luxury firm LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. The fresh reports said people familiar with the matter said a potential spin-off or sale of Guinness is being studied among a range of possibilities.
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Bloomberg reported that the Irish stout business could be valued north of 10 billion US dollars, if it looked at a possible stock market listing or gauged possible takeover interest. The speculation sent Diageo’s shares to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard on Friday, closing up more than 4%.
Its share price has been in the doldrums since Debra Crew took over as chief executive in the summer of 2023 only to issue a profit alert just months into her tenure. Guinness’s growing fashionability has caused a headache for publicans in recent months.
In December, Diageo was forced to ration weekly orders after a period of extraordinary demand. The company cannot increase supply as its Dublin brewery is already working at full capacity, it was reported back in December, amid the rationing.
A spokesperson for Diageo said that, over the past month, it had “seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in Great Britain”. “We have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible,” they added.
