Diageo Kenya Limited has announced plans to acquire up to 118,394,897 (14.97 percent) additional ordinary shares in the East African Breweries PLC (EABL).
According to the public notice dated October 13, 2022, Diageo Kenya, a subsidiary of UK’s Diageo Plc, will buy each share at Ksh192, translating to Ksh22.7 billion.
If the whole transaction is approved by the authorities and concluded, Diageo Kenya will hold 514,003,331 ordinary shares in EABL, representing 65 percent of the issued share capital of EABL.
Currently, Diageo Kenya holds 395,608,434 ordinary shares in the capital of EABL, which represents 50.03% of the issued share capital of EABL.
“Pursuant to Regulation 4(3) of The Capital Markets (Take-overs & Mergers) Regulations, 2002 (the Take-over Regulations), we, Diageo Kenya Limited (Diageo Kenya), hereby announce to the public that we have on 13 October 2022 served on East African Breweries PLC (EABL) notice of our intention to acquire up to 118,394,897 additional ordinary shares in EABL by means of a tender offer (Tender Offer) made to all other shareholders of EABL,” said Diageo.
Diageo Kenya intends to maintain EABL’s listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange following the completion of the tender offer.
“The proposed acquisition by Diageo Kenya of the additional shares is consistent with Diageo’s African growth and active portfolio management. Diageo’s East African business continues to go from strength to strength and is expanding its reach at pace. In addition, a resilient and adaptive approach by the East African business through the Covid-19 pandemic combined with vibrant ecommerce growth has cemented Diageo’s belief that this is an appropriate time to deepen its East African position,” Diageo said.
Diageo’s indirect shareholding in EABL of 50.03 percent is lower than the average shareholding of approximately 66.9 percent held by multinational parent companies in listed subsidiaries in Kenya.
It is also lower than the average shareholding for other listed subsidiaries of Diageo in Africa such as Guinness Nigeria and Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited where Diageo indirectly holds a 58.02 percent and 80.4 percent stake, respectively.
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