After operating in Nigeria since 1950, Guinness Nigeria is set to exit the country, having sold its 58.02% stake to Tolaram Group, a consumer food giant.
Tolaram paid ₦81.60 per share, representing a 60% premium over Guinness Nigeria’s Monday closing price of ₦50.
The decision comes amid a challenging economic climate under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. On Tuesday, Guinness announced it would exit the Nigerian market and transfer its controlling shares to the Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group.
The brewery brand reported a staggering ₦61.9 billion loss after tax between July 2023 and March 2024. This loss followed President Tinubu’s attempt to unify the currency’s value on the official and parallel foreign exchange markets by floating the naira. The move backfired, causing significant financial setbacks for many multinational companies, including Guinness Nigeria. The company’s ₦61.7 billion loss after tax in Q3 represented a 1000% increase from the ₦5.9 billion revenue generated in the same period the previous year.
This substantial loss, exacerbated by the naira’s continued downward trend, likely influenced Diageo, Guinness’ parent company, to sell its 58.02% majority stake to the Singaporean group.
“Under the terms of an agreement signed today, June 11, 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria, along with 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.
Guinness Nigeria Plc, a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was incorporated on April 29, 1950, as a trading company importing Guinness Stout from Dublin. With Tolaram’s acquisition expected to conclude by 2025, the global brewery brand will have spent 75 years in Nigeria.
In the statement, Guinness said the firm would leave Nigeria next year and hand over operations to a third-party venture.
“Under the terms of an agreement signed today, June 11, 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria, along with 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.
Guinness Nigeria Plc, a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was incorporated on April 29, 1950, as a trading company importing Guinness Stout from Dublin. With Tolaram’s acquisition expected to conclude by 2025, the global brewery brand will have spent 75 years in Nigeria.
In the statement, Guinness said the firm would leave Nigeria next year and hand over operations to a third-party venture.
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See reactions below;
bitcoin_chief:😆 The One Who built Lagos is now Scattering Nigeria 😂.
tech___oba: Watch the uneducated people defending him.
kweenchygor30: We warned them but they were blinded by tribalism, just the way tribalism made them vote out Jonathan. Una go chop tribalism and bigotry this year.
balo_ng: If Tinubu ran for elections today, he’d still enjoy massive patronage from same quarters. And it is reason, I’m not wasting my empathy on people propelled by religion or tribalism. We have a country to build and until people devolve from their parochial lenses of religion and tribalism, we’re going nowhere.
dayoogedengbe: So many international companies has left, it was allegedly reported yesterday that Microsoft is leaving this month, now Guinness want to leave. I hope you all understand this will drastically increased our unemployment rate. Election has consequences, We warned you people!!!
minky_realty: Yet some group people don’t see anything wrong with the way things are going in this country?
digital6ix: Gradually we’re losing it 😢😢😢.
