A quiet deal in the bar
South African Breweries (SAB) on 15 May 2002 closed down its brewery in Kenya and bought a 20 per cent stake in rival Kenya Breweries Ltd (KBL), owned by UK brewing giant Guinness/Diageo.
The reason for the shut down? Falling sales. In exchange, East African Breweries (Guinness) will shut its $30m brewery it built in Moshi, Tanzania and acquire 20 per cent of Tanzania Breweries, where SAB has a majority shareholding.
Some 200 Kenyans employed at SAB’s brewery which made Castle lager and several other brands in the central town of Thika close to Nairobi, have been laid off and another 600
in the company’s distribution chain are likely to loose their jobs too.
Actually, Kenya’s beer market has witnessed a massive decline to about 2.4 million hectolitres from 3..
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