This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Ex-Diageo boss ‘in the mix for Peroni bid’
Former Diageo CEO Paul Walsh is in talks to buy the Peroni and Grolsch beer brands that are being sold as part of the £71 billion takeover of SABMiller by AB InBev, according to reports.
Ex-Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh left Diageo in 2013 (Photo: Diageo)
Walsh is working in partnership with private investment firm TPG Capital to make an offer to buy the two global brands, which analysts have valued at £2 billion, Sky News reports.
The talks with TPG in the “early stages” but could result in a formal offer being made, sources told the news channel.
the drinks business has contacted TPG Group for comment.
The two brands are currently owned by global beer producer SABMiller, which is in the process of being taken over by Budweiser and Stella Artois producer AB InBev.
AB InBev recently confirmed press speculation that it is aiming to sell Peroni and Grolsch in order to try to secure regulatory approval for the takeover, which is set to result in one of the largest consumables company in history.
It also revealed it is intending to sell the London-based craft brewer Meantime, which was only purchased by SABMiller in May of this year.
A statement from the group in early December said: “AB InBev will contact potential purchasers in the coming weeks to assess their interest in the Peroni and Grolsch brand families and their associated businesses in Italy, the Netherlands and the UK”.
“Like the previously announced disposal of the Miller business to Molson Coors,” which was also revealed in November, “these steps reflect AB InBev’s pro-active approach to addressing potential regulatory concerns,” the company said.
Walsh, who left Diageo in 2013, was said to have been joining the board of Formula 1 in January this year, but the appointment never materialised.
The statement announcing his appointment had disappeared from the website of F1’s biggest shareholder, CVC Group, by June.
good marketing info for the big player movement