Norwalk-based alcohol beverage company Diageo is reportedly considering a $2 billion bid for tequila brand José Cuervo.
As reported this past week by the U.K.-based Sunday Times, Diageo which has its international headquarters in London, is interested in the family owned tequila brand for which it holds the distribution rights.
Diageo”™s Norwalk office declined to comment on the report.
José Cuervo was founded in 1900 and is now owned and run by the heirs of the Cuervo family, the Beckmann family under the company name Tequila Cuervo La Rojeña. The brand also owns 1800 tequila as well as the hot sauce company Cholula.
Cuervo has interest from other parties such as Diageo rivals Kentucky-based Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniels; New York-based Pernod Ricard, maker of Absolut; and Bacardi, with which it had manufacturing disputes last year. Diageo is considered the most logical buyer because of its distribution rights to the brand.
Diageo-owned product brands include Guinness, Tanqueray, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, with other major brands as distribution partners.
Cuervo would be the second acquisition of a spirit company for Diageo this year after buying the Turkish vodka and gin company Mey IçkiSanayi ve Ticaret for $2.1 billion in February.
