Diageo wins bid to buy Ethiopia's last state brewery

Diageo — majority shareholder in EABL has won a bid to buy Ethiopia's last-remaining state brewery for $225 million, an official said on Monday.

ADDIS ABABA, Monday

Diageo , the world's biggest spirits group, has won a bid to buy Ethiopia's last-remaining state brewery for $225 million, an official said on Monday.

The giant brewer outbid Heineken , SAB Miller and local group Dashen to purchase Meta Abo, said Wondafrash Asefa, spokesman for the (Ethiopian) Privatisation and Public Enterprise Supervising Agency.

"There were four bidding companies: SouthWest Development PLC/Sab Miller with a combined $190 million bid, Heineken (NV) with $188 million and Dashen with $173 million in addition to Diageo's $225 million," he said.

"The decision was made on Friday," Wondafrash told Reuters.

The London-based company has said it expected 10 percent plus sales and profit growth in Latin America and Africa this year. Growth markets in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa - as well as in Brazil and Mexico -- have driven sales up 18 percent in the first three months of 2011.

Heineken, the world's third-largest brewer, won a bid to purchase Bedele and Harar breweries for a combined $163.3 million earlier this year.
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