Diageo Commits a Billion Dollars to Beer Business

For the past five years, several analysts and speculators have often surmised that, at some point, Diageo would sell off its smaller lower margin beer business and focus on higher margin spirits. The usual suspects always emerge as possible buyers: SABMiller, InBev, Heineken, and A-B. Guinness in particular is considered a crown jewel of a beer brand, because like Heineken, it is globally recognized. However, all along Diageo has repeatedly said that it likes having a global beer business, because