Diageo has quelled speculation it is planning to sell Guinness.
In a statement issued on Sunday (26 January), the London-listed drinks company said it had “no intention” to offload the Irish stout brand, or its 34% stake in Moët Hennessy.
“We note the recent media speculation around the Guinness brand and our stake in Moët Hennessy and we can confirm we have no intention to sell either,” it said.
It comes after a Bloomberg report claimed Diageo was considering the future of Guinness as part of a shake-up of its portfolio to drive growth.
Diageo was mulling selling or spinning out Guinness as a standalone company, as well as offloading or increasing its stake in Moët Hennessy, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
A Guinness sale could fetch Diageo upwards of $10bn (£8bn), Bloomberg reported.
Read more: Why would Diageo look to exit beer entirely – including Guinness?
Guinness, however, has been a standout performer in a challenging period for Diageo, driving an 18% uplift in global beer volumes for the group in the year to June.
Meanwhile, innovations like Nitrosurge and the growth of Guinness 0.0 – now the UK’s biggest alcohol-free beer brand in the off-trade [NIQ 52 w/e 29 July] – helped Guinness sales in Great Britain grow by 30%.
Late last year, Diageo was forced to limit supplies to both the on and off-trade in the hopes of avoiding a Christmas shortage of the stout.
In order to meet rising demand, it is currently building a new €200m (£160m) carbon-neutral brewery for Guinness in Kildare. It has also pumped €30m into its St James’s Gate Brewery to increase output of Guinness 0.0.
Diageo is due to update shareholders with its interim results for the six months ended 31 December on 4 February.
The Johnnie Walker brand owner saw sales decline organically by 0.6% in the year to June, but has so far maintained its medium-term annual sales growth guidance of 5%-7%.
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