Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, and Sean Combs today announced that they have furthered their relationship by creating a new joint venture that has purchased luxury tequila brand DeLeón.
The joint venture, a 50/50 global partnership between Diageo and Combs Wine & Spirits, builds on a strategic alliance formed by Diageo and Combs Enterprises to develop and grow the Cîroc ultra-premium vodka brand. Since the alliance began in 2007, Cîroc has grown from just 50,000 cases a year into a nearly 2 million case brand. The DeLeón joint venture will benefit from Diageo’s strong distribution network, supply chain, and marketing capability and Sean Combs’ access to influencers and proven track record of marketing luxury lifestyle brands.
“The joint venture with Combs Wine & Spirits and its purchase of DeLeón is Diageo’s latest step toward returning to a leading position in tequila in North America,” said Larry Schwartz, President, Diageo North America. “Expanding our relationship with Sean Combs into tequila was a natural choice given Sean’s ability to galvanize support for luxury brands, as we’ve seen with our work together on Cîroc. Ultra-premium and above tequila is a very exciting segment – we already have a strong brand there with Don Julio and are pleased to complement that offering with DeLeón.”
“Celebration is a cornerstone of all my businesses, and this joint venture is a natural extension of that portfolio,” said Sean Combs, Chairman, Combs Wine & Spirits. “DeLeón is an outstanding brand that appeals to those who love exceptional tequila in a distinctive bottle. Together with Diageo, we will take DeLeón to new heights.”
With the great success Diddy has had with Ciroc and move into the Teqila world makes a lot of sense.
