Diageo well advised to learn from AT&T takeover bid as it looks to expand in whiskey

IF the world’s biggest spirits company Diageo wants to be a leading player in American whiskey, the experience of another major company attempting a US merger won’t give it much cause for cheer.

Telecoms group AT&T is struggling to seal approval for its $39 billion (€30bn) takeover of T-Mobile USA and analysts see in AT&T’s difficulties evidence of a tougher anti-trust stance from an administration increasingly sensitive about market share dominance and job cuts in a stagnant economy.

Insiders say Diageo, owner of Guinness, has been eyeing Beam, maker of Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons, as a way of getting greater access to North American whiskies, the fastest-growing spirits category in the US. Beam became a pure-play drinks group in October after it was spun out of Fortune Brands.