(, ) is the largest multinational
Beer, Wine And Spirits Company in the world. The company was formed in 1997 from the merger of
Guinness Plc and Grand Metropolitan plc and is listed on the
London Stock Exchange .
The product portfolios of Guinness and GrandMet were largely complementary, with little overlap.
Diageo is the holding company for the some leading international drinks brands such as
Guinness ,
Smirnoff ,
Captain Morgan ,
Gordon's ,
Crown Royal , Bulleit Bourbon,
J&B ,
Seagram 7 Crown ,
VO ,
Bell's ,
Archer's ,
Pimm's ,
Johnnie Walker ,
Tanqueray ,
Don Julio ,
Baileys ,
Sterling Vineyards , Beaulieu Vineyards,
George Dickel ,
Bushmills , and operates the
Scottish Whisky distilleries of
Blair Athol ,
Caol Ila ,
Cardow ,
Clynelish ,
Cragganmore ,
Dalwhinnie ,
Glenkinchie ,
Glen Ord ,
Lagavulin ,
Oban ,
Royal Lochnagar and
Talisker . It is also a distributor of
Jose Cuervo .
In 2002 Diageo sold the
Burger King fast food restaurant chain worldwide to a consortium led by US firm
Texas Pacific for $1.5bn. Until 2000, Diageo owned
Pillsbury which it sold to
General Mills .
In December 2003 Diageo provoked controversy over its decision to change its
Cardhu brand Scotch whisky from a
Single Malt to a
Vatted Malt (also Known As A Pure Malt) whilst retaining the original name and bottle style. Diageo took this action because it did not have sufficient reserves to meet demand in the
Spanish market, where
Cardhu had been successful. All other firms in the Scotch whisky industry opposed this change. They claimed that changing the composition of the whisky (to a supposedly inferior product) while keeping the original name and bottle style would confuse drinkers and damage the reputation of single malt whisky and the Scotch whisky industry in general. Whereas the
Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) was unwilling to react,
William Grant & Sons led other smaller distillers in the campaign to make Diageo revert their decision. After a meeting of producers, Diageo agreed to make changes. As a result, the authority of the SWA was significantly undermined.
Current members of the ,
Clive Hollick ,
Franz Humer ,
Maria Lilja ,
Nick Rose ,
William Shanahan ,
Todd Stitzer ,
Jon Symonds ,
Paul Walker , and
Paul Walsh .
