Diageo’s Kenyan subsidiary East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has announced plans to increase its ownership in Tanzania’s Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL) from 55% to 85%. The move comes ahead of rival AB InBev’s Tanzania Breweries opening its new $100m brewery in Dodoma.

The company said “EABL intends to enter into a conditional transaction to purchase an additional 30% shareholding in Serengeti Breweries. Completion of the transaction is subject to various regulatory approvals in Kenya and Tanzania.”

In 2019, EABL acquired a further 4% of Serengeti Breweries for Sh313m ($3m), indicating it has paid around $40m for the additional stake. In May EABL revealed that the closure of bars and restaurants in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic had hit business hard, likely to drop net earnings by 25% for the financial year ended June 2020.

SBL has three sites in Tanzania: a newer 500,000hl capacity brewery in Moshi, a newer 650,000hl capacity brewery in Manzi, and a 350,000hl capacity brewery in Dar es Salaam. Its Moshi brewery has the cope to expand to 800,000hl.

SBL is the second placed player in the Tanzanian beer market, behind AB InBev’s Tanzania Breweries (TBL). In July 2018 TBL announced a new $100m brewery set to come online in 2020. The new brewery will have the capacity to generate 1m hectolitres of beer per year. It already operates breweries in Mbeya, Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha.

SBL 15% of the beer market, but EABL holds a further 13% for brands it brings into Tanzania. TBL accounts for around 70% of the market, down from its near monopoly in 2004.