Kirin Holdings Co., Japan's biggest beverage maker, will start selling Diageo PLC's beers and spirits in Japan from June, ending Sapporo Holdings Ltd.'s 44-year sales contract with the British company.
The move, announced in a faxed statement Wednesday, will allow Tokyo-based Kirin to sell Guinness Stout, Kilkenny beer and Smirnoff vodka made by London-based Diageo, the world's largest liquor company.
Sapporo will continue to support sales of Diageo products until its contract expires in May, and will use the change as an opportunity to develop new products, said spokesman Katsuhito Ogawa.
Sapporo first began selling Guinness in Japan in 1964, according to Ogawa.