Diageo offloads major wine interests

Diageo was ringing in 2016 on Monday with the completion of the sale of its major wine interests.

The FTSE 100 beverage multinational had previously announced its intention to sell the US-based Chateau and Estate Wines and the UK-based Percy Fox arm, to Treasury Wine Estates

In October, Diageo indicated the dollar valuation of the transaction would be worth $552m, with net proceeds to the firm of £320m.

"Diageo's strategy to drive stronger, sustained performance through focus on our core portfolio and today's announcement is another element of that strategy in action", Diageo chief executive Ivan Menezes said at the time.

"With the completion of this transaction Diageo would have released £1bn from the sale of non-core assets since the start of the financial year."

Treasury Wine Estates is an Australia-based business, and was formed through a demerger from brewer Foster's Group in 2011. Its operations remained concentrated in Australia and New Zealand before this transaction.

Following the sale, Diageo's remaining wine interests were Justerini & Brooks Wine Merchants, the Argentinian wine business Navarro Correas, wine brands Mey Icki and USL, the Chalone brand and assets and the Acacia winery and vineyard.