Diageo PLC (LSE:DGE) has said it is starting the final phase of its share buyback, where it will hoover up to £640mln worth of its stock.
Three previous phases of the Guinness and Smirnoff maker’s buyback programme saw a total of £3.86bn of shares repurchased out of the £4.5bn planned total.
Merrill Lynch has been appointed to buy back the shares for the company, starting today and ending no later than 24 February 2023, with all shares repurchased to be cancelled.
Credit Suisse recently calculated that Diageo had “scope for at least £2bn upside to capital deployment”, in other words, more buybacks and M&A, while still cutting debt leverage back to its targeted level.
As for M&A, last month the FTSE 100-listed alcoholic drinks group said it intends to raise its stake in East African Breweries to 65% from 50.03% but did not intend to make a takeover offer.