George Clooney And Partners Sell Tequila Brand Casamigos For $1 Billion

What a great year it’s looking to be for George Clooney. First his beautiful younger wife Amal welcomes twins (a boy, and a girl) into the world and then he and his partners sell their growing-tequila brand Casamigos for $1 billion to Diageo Plc. Diageo Plc already owns DeLeon, Don Julio, and the Peligroso brands.

Clooney co-founded the brand of tequila four years ago in 2013. He created the brand with developer Mike Meldman and entertainment entrepreneur Rande Gerber (Cindy Crawford’s husband).

The spirt is made by an undisclosed partner in Mexico and according to North American President Deirdre Mahlan, the brand is on track to sell 170,000 12-bottle cases this year. Casamigos is growing 40 percent to 50 percent annually and is selling for $45 to $55.

The purchase is Diageo’s biggest since it purchased United Spirits Ltd. for $3.2 billion back in 2014. In the deal, Diageo said that the initial consideration is $700 million which will be followed by a potential $300 million based on a performance-linked earn-out over the next ten years.

Diageo Chief Executive Officer Ivan Menezes said in a statement, “The Casamigos purchase “supports our strategy to focus on the high growth super-premium-and-above segments of the category. With the global strength of Diageo we expect to expand the reach of Casamigos to markets beyond the U.S. to capitalize on the significant international potential of the brand.”

Diageo has said that the acquisition will be funded through a combination of cash and debt, and Diageo expects it to have limited impact on earnings per share for the first three years.