Kenya regulator demands $115m reserve in Diageo-EABL deal

An employee inspects bottles of beer on a conveyor belt at the production line inside the East African Breweries Limited factory in Ruaraka factory in Nairobi, Kenya, 6 April 2018. Reuters/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

The newspaper said the Competition Authority of Kenya wanted the reserve to cover potential liabilities and third-party claims linked to EABL, a condition that has stalled completion of the transaction.

Diageo said there was "no basis whatsoever for these proposed conditions".

"The supposed concerns are entirely unrelated to the transaction and their imposition would be unlawful. Diageo and Asahi are continuing to discuss this issue with the CAK," a Diageo spokesperson said.

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The competition authority did not respond to requests for comment.

Diageo agreed in December 2025 to sell its 65% stake in EABL to Asahi for about $2.3bn.

The transaction has faced several court challenges in Kenya, including a suit by distributor Bia Tosha that was dismissed in April, and a later case in which a minority shareholder temporarily secured an order halting the deal, prompting EABL to ask Kenya's chief justice in June to speed up related hearings.

($1 = 129.4000 Kenyan shillings)