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Campari insists it is unaffected by the tax dispute between the Italian government and its controlling shareholder after a court ordered shares in the spirits giant to be seized. 

Lagfin, which controls 80% of Campari’s voting rights, has had €1.3bn ($1.49bn) worth of shares seized by Italian tax officials, which are accusing the Luxembourg-based group of tax evasion. 

Guardia di Finanzia, Italy’s tax-and-fraud watchdog, said it had carried out a “precautionary seizure order” on behalf of the Monza court. 

It claims capital gains worth more than €5.3bn were not declared after Lagfin absorbed its Italian subsidiary “and were not taxed upon their exit from the country, as required by tax law”. 

Campari said: “In relation to articles published by the media, Campari Group clarifies that the tax litigation between Lagfin and the Italian tax authorities does not concern either Davide Campari-Milano or any of its subsidiaries. Therefore, no impact whatsoever is expected for Davide Campari-Milano nor for any of its subsidiaries.”

Molson Coors Beverage Co. has recorded impairment charges worth almost $4bn in a set of financial accounts that included another quarter of falling sales. 

The US giant booked impairments on its Americas unit and on two other sets of assets. 

Third-quarter net sales fell by more than 2% amid a 6% decline in “financial volumes” – sales of Molson Coors’ owned or “actively managed” brands. 

President and CEO Rahul Goyal said the results “largely aligned with our expectations for the second half of the year for the industry and our share performance in the US”. 

The group said it “identified a triggering event” during Q3 that “indicated it was more likely than not that the carrying value of the Americas reporting unit exceeded its fair value”. That resulted in a “partial goodwill impairment loss” of $3.65bn. 

During the quarter, Molson Coors also recorded “intangible impairment losses” of $273.9m across its Blue Run Spirits asset group and Staropramen brands.

Rémy Cointreau has cut its sales forecast for its 2025-26 fiscal year, citing worsening market conditions in China and a slower-than-expected recovery in US sales. 

The French spirits giant now expects organic sales growth to sit in the “stable and low-single-digits” range, compared to its previous forecast of “mid-single-digit growth”.   

The company is projecting an organic decline in “current” operating profit between the “low double digits and mid-teens” versus an earlier projection for a “mid-single-digit” fall. 

Despite the downgraded outlook, Rémy said it “intends to support the recovery by maintaining sustained investments in China and the United States”. 

In the six months to the end of September, the Rémy Martin Cognac owner posted sales of €489.6m ($568.5m), down 4.2% on an organic basis. 

Organic sales in its second quarter dropped 11% to €281.9m, reflecting “adverse timing effects in a persistently challenging economic environment”, the company said.

Diageo has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit in Florida that alleges Tequila brands Casamigos and Don Julio are not made from “100% blue weber agave”. 

In July, the business started a bid to throw out similar but separate accusations filed by consumers from New Jersey and New York, plus a Brooklyn-based restaurant. That suit accused the group’s North American unit of “falsely marketing” its brands and “selling adulterated Tequila”. 

The latest court filing from Diageo, lodged on 28 October, implies the Florida suit was filed ten days after the New York action and refers to the “copying and pasting that case’s baseless, threadbare allegations”. 

Laws in the US and Mexico specify that blue weber agave is the only agave plant species that can be used as the base ingredient in a pure Tequila product. 

The group told Just Drinks that it is also filing a motion to dismiss the New York case.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is in talks to become a global partner for the next cycle of UEFA men’s club soccer competitions. 

The Stella Artois owner has entered an exclusive negotiation period with European soccer’s UEFA governing body over a possible deal covering the 2027-33 commercial cycle. 

AB InBev could become the global official beer partner for all UEFA club competitions for six seasons. 

Should a deal be struck, AB InBev will replace Dutch brewing giant Heineken, which has been UEFA’s beer sponsor for its array of club competitions since the early 1990s.  

The last renewal between those two parties was unveiled in 2023 and has been reported as worth $128m per year. Media reports have said AB InBev’s offer is for as much as $230m a year. 

The competitions include the UEFA Champions League, second-tier UEFA Europa League and third-tier UEFA Conference League.