date:Dec 12, 2012
Diageo has pulled out of talks to buy a stake in top-selling tequila brand Jose Cuervo in a surprise move that fuelled speculation that the world's biggest spirits maker could now set its sights on smaller rival Beam Inc.
The collapse of discussions with Cuervo, which has a distribution deal with Diageo due to end in June 2013, will leave Diageo without a major tequila brand and Cuervo without a distributor outside its home market of Mexico.
Shares of Beam, which owns the world's No. 2 tequila