DEO Diageo Plc

By Saabira Chaudhuri 

LONDON -- Diageo PLC has hired bankers to sell its Canadian whisky brand Seagrams VO and cinnamon schnapps Goldschlager among other spirits brands, according to people familiar with the matter.

Diageo, the world's largest liquor maker, is also looking to unload other middle-market brands like Myers rum, Popov vodka and Romana sambuca, according to these people as it looks to tighten its focus on pricier, international brands that are seeing stronger growth.

Centerview Partners has been hired to sell the portfolio, which could bring in proceeds of up to $1 billion.

Sky News reported on Diageo's move earlier Thursday.

The process kicked off only this week but the company is hoping to sell the brands in a single transaction, meaning likely buyers will include private-equity firms, according to one of the people.

"We regularly review our portfolio to ensure we are maximizing shareholder value," said a Diageo spokeswoman.

Shares were up 1.6% in afternoon trading in London.

Diageo -- which owns over 200 brands -- has been shuffling its portfolio in recent years as it looks to shed low-growth assets and increase its exposure to promising markets and categories.

In 2015 it sold Scottish hotel and golf resort Gleneagles Hotel Ltd. Later that year it agreed to sell most of its wine portfolio to Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. for $552 million.

Millennials, in particular, are drinking less alcohol but spending more money per drink, according to executives, and Diageo like other drinks companies has been trying to play to this trend.

Last year it bought Casamigos, an upscale tequila brand co-founded by actor George Clooney that increases its exposure to the fast-growing tequila market. In 2015 it swapped its Bushmills Irish whiskey brand for Don Julio, previously owned by Jose Cuervo and last year launched a new, pricier Irish whiskey brand called Roe & Co.

In the U.S., the company's largest and most profitable market, Diageo has been focused on trading drinkers up to high-end variants of brands like Tanqueray and Johnnie Walker while simultaneously trying to buoy vodka sales, which have flagged in the face of competition from Fifth Generation Inc.-owned Tito's Handmade vodka.

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2018 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT)

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