FDBusiness.com

Diageo, the world’s largest spirits group, is holding talks with Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala with a view to acquiring a 50% stake in super premium rum brand Zacapa Centenario. Diageo has been marketing the Guatemalan rum since 2008 under a three year contract with brand owner Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala.

Sales of Zacapa, which is produced using sugar cane rather than molasses, have grown rapidly in recent years due chiefly to the growing popularity of cocktails, especially in the brand’s key markets of the US, Spain and Italy.

Diageo already owns rum brands Captain Morgan, produced in Puerto Rico, and Pampero and Cacique, both made in Venezuela.