Diageo completes sale of Windsor Global whisky unit to Korean company  

UK – British multinational alcoholic beverage company, Diageo has completed the sale of Windsor Global whisky unit to a Korean company PT W Co., Ltd. 

Windsor Global owns the Windsor business and associated intellectual property including Windsor,  a premium Scotch Whisky launched in 1996 offering a selection of fine grain whiskies and malt whiskies. 

Korea ranks as the top market for premium blended Scotch whisky with Windsor 12-year-old being the brand’s most renowned expression. 

The brand’s buyer, PT W Co., is a South Korean beverage company sponsored by Pine Tree Investment & Management Co., Ltd, the leading alternative investment firm.  

The sale of the Whisky unit comes after previous collapsed attempts by the Johny Walker producer to sell the unit to the Bayside Private Equity and Metis Private Equity consortium unit.  

John O’Keeffe, president of Asia Pacific, Global Travel, and India for Diageo termed the transaction as a reflection of Diageo’s disciplined approach to capital allocation and a crucial highlight of the organization’s track record of active portfolio management. 

 “We remain fully committed to Korea and our international spirits and beer business,” he added. 

“Our position in the market remains strong as premiumization trends persist and consumer interest in categories like international whisky continues to grow.” 

Earlier, Diageo announced two regenerative agriculture programmes across its tequila and scotch brands in Mexico and Scotland respectively.  

The programmes are focused on reducing the carbon emissions of farming barley and wheat for Scotch whisky and agave for tequila, whilst driving additional benefits for the farmers. 

 Diageo hopes both programmes will drive positive outcomes of enhanced biodiversity, improved water stewardship, carbon reduction and better soil health management.  

The scotch and tequila programmes are being delivered in partnership with agriculture and soil carbon experts, including Agricarbon and James Hutton Limited.  

Agricarbon will help Diageo build the baselines of how much carbon the soil currently holds and track soil carbon changes over time across both geographic contexts. 

James Hutton Limited will, on the other hand, investigate how regenerative farming practices can improve soil structure, biological activity and water retention rate in the Scotch programme.