Casamigos purchased by Diageo for $1 billion; Clooney and Gerber are ALCO studs!!!

Four days ago, Diageo made a huge transaction in the Alcohol, Spirits, beverages (ASB) world. The London based company bought Casamigos Tequila for $1 Billion, in a record breaking deal. Diageo owns Don Julio Tequila already, but Diageo continues to add to their arsenal in the Beverages and Spirits industry. In late 2012/early 2013, George Clooney; Rande Gerber; and Mike Meldman started Casamigos in Malibu, California. The three successful people come from diverse backgrounds, and their collaboration turned into a lucrative partnership. The $1 billion price tag breaks down to an initial $700 million, plus $300 million more based on increased sales over the next decade. Casamigos Tequila is a top brand in the growing tequila category, selling 120,000 cases in 2016. Furthermore, most of the sales of Casamigos are domestic. The brand is found in many high end stores; and restaurants around the USA. Casamigos is expected to top 170,000 cases sold in 2017. Some of the most popular brands of tequila are Jose Cuervo, Don Julio, Avion, and Patron. Did you know that sales of super-premium tequila are up more than 700 percent nationwide, since 2002? Tequila is the main ingredient in a margarita, or mixed with Sprite/7 UP as a good summer drink. For myself, Casamigos became a high end tequila to try in 2015. Mixing it with 7 UP was the right thing to do, on a hot May day in the AZ summer. It was Primo Greenleaf's birthday, and we had to celebrate in the right way. Primo had a margarita with Patron, as he perused the beautiful ladies in the speakeasy in Scottsdale. Let's fast forward to Cinco de Mayo 2017! On that day, mixing Casamigos and sprite became a cool concoction for me to sip on another hot AZ sumer day. Personally, the gold Casamigos tequila is a much better tasting flavor than their silver tequila. Back to Diageo's other alcoholic (ALCO) spirits collection, the company has the following brands: Johnnie Walker Scotch, Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, Smirnoff vodka, Captain Morgan rum, Baileys Irish Cream, Don Julio tequila, Tanqueray gin and Guinness beer. The Casamigos sale is expected to close in the second half, of 2017. Congratulations to the ALCO trio (Clooney, Gerber, and Meldman)!! Diageo wants to sell Casamigos internationally, as the tequila is going to be distributed to 20 countries on 5 continents. By 2020, Diageo should look to sell the brand in 30 countries on 6 continents. Diageo is a public company on NYSE, and it can be found under 'DEO' stock symbol. They compete with Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), a personal favorite ASB company of mine. Enjoy the image of George Clooney, and Rande Gerber drinking Casamigos in a cool Floridian bar! Cheers, Salute!!

Mayday Mayday, Or Theresa Maybe! British PM's top aides are quitting in major Political shakeup in UK

First, Theresa May is the current PM in the UK. She is not resigning, as the Conservatives party’s grip on the UK government slipped in a recent major election. Theresa May has been the Prime Minister for the past 11 months, in the United Kingdom. A 'hung parliament' is the main result in the last UK general election, which happened four days ago. The major cities in England are losing confidence in the government, as the Conservative party won less than 50% of the seats in the UK region. Today, Theresa May lost two of her top aides when Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill announced their dual resignation. Nick served as the chief of staff, under Theresa May for the past 11 months. Fiona served as the Joint Chief of Staff at 10 Downing Street, for the past 11 months. Both of them helped Theresa May on a daily basis, to shape May's political agenda before the shocking UK election result. Now, the world is wondering 'can Theresa May weather the new political storm, as many of her supporters have turned into major detractors?' The UK election could mean a softer 'BrExit'; or could the UK will their way back into the European Union somehow. The mandate of 'Brexit' is in trouble, and the hung parliament means that Northern Ireland and Scotland, Wales; will see changes in leadership soon. Theresa May has contacted Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party in order, to get enough votes to govern. After the UK general election results, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson; and Brexit secretary David Davis will keep their roles in Theresa's minority government. Also, Chancellor Philip Hammond; Home Secretary Amber Rudd; and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will retain their roles in the new minority government. How does all of this news change the exchange rates, between the US Dollar and the Great Britain Pound? One GB Pound is exchanging/converting to $1.275 US dollars. The GB pound remains one of the few currencies, which exchanges into a weaker foreign US dollar. One Euro is equivalent to $1.12 US dollars. Can the Euro and the US Dollar have a 1:1 monetary ratio one day? It would be incredible to see the 1 GB Pound equal to $1.10 US dollars. In the end, the British citizens that live in different countries (US, France, India, Australia, etc.) have become deprecators of the UK and their governmental decisions. Nine months ago at Universal Studios Hollywood, a tour guide and myself were chatting about the UK government for handful of minutes. The informative tour guide mentioned that Theresa May is called 'Theresa Maybe' in many wealthy parts of London. He mentioned to me that Theresa May received this moniker due to her inconsistent governmental decision making. As a final statement, US president Donald Trump has lent his support to Theresa May. How will the rest of the world, including the EU and other European countries feel about May in the upcoming months of 2017? It is a probing question, with many various answers. Enjoy the image above of each political party, from the recent UK general election results.