The High Court has allowed Diageo PLC to seek regulatory approval and continue with other processes as it transfers its shareholding in East African Breweries to Asahi Group Holdings of Japan.
In a session mid-morning on Friday, Justice Bahati Mwamuye said no final action of the sale should be concluded by January 20, in 11 days, the date the case by Bia Tosha Distributors shall be allocated a judge.
Justice Mwamuye referred the matter to the Presiding Judge for reallocation. It will be mentioned on January 20 for further directions.
Diageo PLC has agreed to transfer its shareholding in East Africa’s largest manufacturing entity to Asahi Group for $2.3 billion, the biggest such transaction in Kenya in recent times.
Read Also: Cledun Realtors: Your Trusted Partner in Safe Land Investment in 2026
“We welcome the Court’s decision to allow the regulatory phases of this transaction to continue,” said EABL.
The latest case by Bia Tosha Distributors is an application on a case it filed in 2016 after its contract with Kenya Breweries Limited failed to be renewed.
Court Allows Regulatory Phase of Diageo–Asahi Transaction to Proceed
EABL said the case by Bia Tosha is a legacy commercial dispute regarding local distribution routes and has no factual or legal connection to the shareholding of its parent company.
In an accompany affidavit, Anthony Smith, Diageo’s General Counsel, said the transaction is a long way from finalisation.
Read Also: Why You Don’t Have to Show Your M-Pesa Message to Prove Payment
“The regulatory approval process has not yet commenced and completion of the Transaction is expected in the second half of the calendar year 2026. Therefore, completion of the sale is not imminent,” said Smith.
Smith argued that Bia Tosha’s case is based on misconceptions.
Court Allows Regulatory Phase of Diageo–Asahi Transaction to Proceed
“There is no risk that any judgment against Diageo PLC, a multi-national company of over US$48 billion market capitalisation, which has submitted to this jurisdiction, and which intends to retain assets in this jurisdiction, would be unenforceable,” said Smith.
“The Transaction was secured through a complex, competitive process with a buyer of Asahi’s scale and suitability, and a delay or open-ended restraint could foreseeably hinder the parties in completing the Transaction,” he added.
Read Also: How to Check 2025 KCSE Results as KNEC Releases Exams Today
With the case targeting EABL and its subsidiary KBL, which are Kenyan and have substantial assets, he added, any judgements against them would be enforceable locally.
Bia Tosha has had a long-running dispute with EABL after its contracts failed to be renewed after it demanded a 300 per cent increase in its margins. Bia Tosha is owned by a former EABL employee, Peter Burugu, and is now managed by his daughter, Anne-Marie Burugu.
In court, lawyers for Diageo and EABL said that Bia Tosha is seeking to extend its fight over distributorship to the transaction between Diageo and Asahi, which is being carried out at shareholder level as KBL and EABL continue in their commercial activities.
