Guinness has announced its decision to exit the Nigerian market and sell its controlling shares to Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group, effective Tuesday, June 11.
The departure of Guinness adds to the growing list of multinational companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft, that have left Nigeria due to the challenging economic environment.
The brewery company reported a significant loss of N61.9 billion after tax from July 2023 to March 2024. This comes shortly after President Tinubu floated the naira to unify its value on official and parallel foreign exchange markets.
In Q3 alone, Guinness Nigeria’s loss after tax amounted to N61.7 billion, a dramatic downturn from the N5.9 billion profit recorded in the same period the previous year. Consequently, Diageo, Guinness’ parent company, decided to sell its 58.02 percent majority stake to the Singaporean group.
“Under the terms of an agreement signed today, 11 June 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria royalty agreements for the continued production of the Guinness brand and its locally manufactured Diageo ready-to-drink and mainstream spirits brands,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
“The transaction is expected to be completed during fiscal 2025, subject to obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals in Nigeria,” said the statement signed by Abidemi Ademola, Guinness’s legal director.
Diageo “will retain ownership of the Guinness brand, which will be licensed to Guinness Nigeria for the long term.”
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