Diageo facts

(CNN) -- Diageo drinks maker owns beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wine and beer categories including Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Baileys, J&B, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray, Guinness, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines, and Bushmills Irish whiskey.

In 1997 Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness UDV, the brewing company most famous for its dark stout beer. The combined company was dubbed Diageo, a name that merged the Latin for "day" with the Greek for "earth."

At the time of the merger GrandMet owned Burger King Corporation, Pillsbury Company, and a range of drinks brands, including Baileys and Smirnoff.

When Guinness and GrandMet merged to form Diageo in 1997, GrandMet had a market cap of $1.64 billion. Today Diageo has grown to almost $61.5 billion.

As listed in Forbes, Diageo's sales in 2007 hit $13.4 billion, and its profits for the year totaled $3.5 billion.

Today, Diageo employs 72,000 people across more than 200 markets worldwide.