A&O Shearman Advised Asahi On Its Acquisition Of Diageo’s East Africa Business

A&O Shearman advised Asahi on its acquisition of Diageo’s East Africa business

A&O Shearman is advised Asahi Group Holdings (Asahi) on the acquisition from Diageo of Diageo Kenya Limited (DKL), through which it will indirectly acquire 65% of East African Breweries (EABL), and 53.68% of the shares in UDV (Kenya) Limited (UDVK). EABL owns the other 46.32% of the shares in UDVK. The equity value is USD2,354 million for DKL and USD646m for the 53.68% of shares in UDVK.

EABL markets beer, spirits and RTD beverages in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Together with UDVK, EABL possesses a rich brand portfolio, including beer brands such as Senator, Tusker, and Serengeti, as well as spirits brands such as Chrome and Kenya Cane.

As part of the transaction, Diageo and EABL plan to enter into long term licenses for Diageo’s global brands, such as Guinness, Johnnie Walker, and Smirnoff Ice, to ensure they continue to be sold within the East African region.

The transaction was signed on December 17, 2025 and is expected to close in the second half of calendar 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. This transaction forms part of Asahi’s objective to establish a foundation for medium- to long-term growth by acquiring a leading platform in Kenya and the East African market.

A&O Shearman has advised across Asahi’s recent high-value acquisitions such as Asahi’s USD11.3 billion acquisition of Carlton & United Breweries, its EUR7.30bn acquisition of the Central & Eastern European business of SABMiller and its EUR2.55bn acquisition of Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime.

The A&O Shearman team was led by Matthew Appleton (Partner), Maegen Morrison (Partner), Aoife Mac Dermott (Partner), Jim Ford (Partner), Tokutaka Ito (Partner), and Nick Whithers (Partner). They are supported by Soyeon Lim (Senior Associate), Andrew Pang (Senior Associate), and Harriet Steele (Associate), Joel Hartikainen (Associate), Toluwa Agboola (Associate), Priyanka Popat (Associate), Andre-Pierre Cronje (Associate); and licensing/commercial Magnus Yadi (Senior Associate), and Amy Cheng (Associate), Betsy Perry (Associate), Millie Fantham (Associate), and Aled Bennett (Trainee Solicitor). The broader team includes finance Hitomi Komachi (Partner), Jane Glancy (Partner), antitrust James Webber (Partner), Lydia Challen (Partner), employment Kate Pumfrey (Partner), and incentives Mahesh Varia (Partner), Paul McCarthy (Partner).

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