Beer distributor Bia Tosha Distributors Limited has withdrawn key parts of its lawsuit against East African Breweries PLC (EABL) and Diageo, effectively clearing a major legal hurdle linked to the proposed $2.3 billion Diageo-Asahi deal.
The development emerged during a High Court session on Thursday, where Bia Tosha’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Kiragu Kimani, informed the court that the company was dropping its “Further Amended Petition” dated January 30, 2026, together with supporting affidavits and expert reports.
The court subsequently marked the petition as withdrawn and ordered the related documents removed from the court record.
The now-withdrawn petition had formed the basis of Bia Tosha’s attempt to challenge Diageo’s planned sale of its 65 per cent stake to Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings. The distributor had also sought claims amounting to KSh45 billion.
The withdrawal follows an earlier setback for Bia Tosha after the High Court, in April this year, declined to issue conservatory orders that would have temporarily stopped the transaction.
With the 2026 amendments now abandoned, the case reverts to an earlier petition filed in June 2016.
What remains before the court is a long-running dispute over the termination of exclusive beer distribution routes in Nairobi and a claim seeking a refund of about KSh38.3 million paid as goodwill.
The court will now focus on the original commercial dispute rather than the broader corporate issues linked to the Diageo-Asahi transaction.
Lawyers representing EABL and Diageo, including Senior Counsels Kamau Karori and George Oraro, welcomed the move, saying it could help bring one of the Constitutional Division’s oldest pending matters closer to conclusion.
The court also issued fresh timelines to speed up the case.
EABL, Diageo and other parties involved have been given 14 days to file revised responses tied only to the 2016 petition, while Bia Tosha will have an additional 10 days to submit supplementary replies.
Several pending applications, including contempt of court motions, were suspended temporarily to allow the main case to proceed without delays.
The matter will be mentioned again on July 2, 2026, to confirm compliance and determine whether the hearing will proceed through written affidavits or witness cross-examination.
The substantive hearing has been scheduled for July 20, 2026.
