Portugal-based Casa Redondo, which owns the Per Se aperitif, has agreed to take fruit liqueur Safari off the multinational’s hands for an undisclosed fee. The news, confirmed late last week, leaves Pampero rum and gin-based liqueur Pimm’s on the shelf, with the pair rumoured to be available to a willing acquiror.
The main markets for Safari, which has an ABV of 20%, are Portugal and Turkey as well as the Benelux countries.
The sale, which taps into what Diageo calls its “strategy of maintaining a sharp focus on effective portfolio management”, comes just over two years after Campari Group agreed to buy the Picon aperitif brand from the company and 22 months since Archers Schnapps made its way to De Kuyper Royal Distillers in the Netherlands.
Diageo’s Europe president, John Kennedy, said: “This transaction will allow us to further concentrate on our core areas of strength, including tequila and whiskey/whisky, as we accelerate towards our ambition; to be one of the best performing … consumer products companies in the world.”
This year started with Diageo welcoming another tequila brand to its portfolio when DeLeón came under its full ownership as part of the resolution of a legal disagreement with entertainer & entrepreneur Sean ‘Diddy Coombs.
