Diageo (the owners of Guinness Nigeria) sells 58% Stake in Guinness Nigeria, Leaves Due to Worsening Cost-of-Living Crisis
After operating in Nigeria since 1950 and enduring a torrid economic climate on the back of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Guinness has announced it will exit the Nigerian market and sell off its controlling shares to Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group on Tuesday.
The brewery brand recorded a staggering N61.9 billion loss after tax between July 2023 and March 2024, just a few months after Mr Tinubu floated the naira in an effort to unify the currency’s value on the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.
But the move backfired and caused many multinational companies to suffer huge financial setbacks including Guinness Nigeria whose N61.7 billion loss after tax in Q3 was a 1000 per cent increase from the N5.9 billion revenue generated in the same period last year.
The loss exacerbated by the naira’s continued downward trend may have informed Diageo, Guinness’ parent company, to sell its 58.02 per cent 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 Guinness brand has operated in Nigeria since 1950, but with Tolaram’s controlling stake acquisition expected to conclude by 2025, the global brewery brand will have spent 75 years in Nigeria.
