Kenya: Kenya court postpones hearing on bid to block Diageo-Asahi deal

A court in Kenya has delayed a hearing on an attempt to halt the sale of Diageo's business in the country to Asahi Group Holdings, Yahoo Finance reported on January 9.

In December, Asahi agreed to pay $2.3bn for Diageo’s 65% stake in East African Breweries (EABL) and its 53.7% shareholding in Kenyan spirits group UDVK.

Earlier this week, Bia Tosha, a former distributor for Diageo in Kenya, applied for an ex parte injunction to block the stake sale.

It is now understood the request had been refused as the judge had asked to hear from both sides in the case.

In a statement on January 9, the publicly listed EABL, which produces the Tusker and Serengeti beer brands, confirmed the High Court in Kenya has "issued a temporary preservation order" valid until 20 January, "restraining only the final steps of the sale".

Kenneth Liplagat, a partner at law firm Okoth & Kiplagat Advocates representing Bia Tosha in the case, confirmed the hearing had been postponed.

"In the meanwhile, the judge gave a conservatory order preventing Diageo from transferring the shares until the next hearing on 20th January," he told Just Drinks.

EABL said in its statement the latest order is not expected to affect the timeline of the transaction. In December, Diageo said the deal was anticipated to be complete in the second half of this year.

"The court expressly ordered that the regulatory approval process and preliminary steps for the transaction should proceed uninterrupted," EABL said.

"The judge recognised the significance of the transaction and declined to paralyse these essential statutory processes."

Reports earlier this week from Bloomberg and Reuters said Bia Tosha had asked the High Court in Kenya to halt the deal between Diageo and Asahi due to legal action with the UK group’s Kenyan businesses that has not yet been resolved.

The litigation in question dates back to 2016 against EABL and its subsidiary Kenya Breweries. The case was linked to a spat over a distribution contract.

In its statement on January 9, EABL added: "We welcome the court's decision to allow the regulatory phases of this transaction to continue.

"We reiterate that the substantive case is a legacy commercial dispute regarding local distribution routes and has no factual or legal connection to the shareholding of our parent company."

Bia Tosha is no longer a distributor in the market, with its route network having been taken over by other businesses.

07 January, 2026