Shares in Diageo, the parent company of Guinness and the world’s largest spirits maker, have climbed more than 7% amid speculation the Brazilian private equity firm, 3G Capital, is preparing a takeover bid. However, with a market cap of €60bn (£44.3bn), Diageo would not come cheap.

3G Capital, headed by Brazil’s richest man Jorge Paolo Lemann, has played a leading role in the international consolidation of the food and drinks industry. It has a controlling stake in Anheuser Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, and paid more than €3.5bn ($4bn) for the American fast-food chain Burger King in 2010. 3G then teamed up with Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffet in 2013 to buy the global Heinz food business for €24.8bn ($28bn), which it now plans to merge with Kraft Foods, another of America’s largest food companies.