Phoenix Beverages Limited has raised its stake in African Originals Limited to 37.65 per cent. It paid Sh124.4 million (MUR 46.6 million) for an extra 3.3 per cent in the year to June 2026.
African Originals owns Savannah Brands Limited, the Kenyan company that makes Kenyan Originals cider, gin and tonic.
The price implies a value of Sh3.77 billion (MUR 1.41 billion) for African Originals. Phoenix, a Mauritian bottler, now holds more than a third of the business.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Extra stake bought | 3.30% |
| Price paid | MUR 46.6 million (Sh124.4 million) |
| Stake before | 34.35% |
| Stake after | 37.65% |
| Implied value of African Originals | MUR 1.41 billion (Sh3.77 billion) |
| Prior year purchase | MUR 82.5 million |
A stake built in steps
Phoenix entered at 28.15 per cent. Khusoko reported the Competition Authority of Kenya’s approval of that first purchase in February 2024. The deal came with minority control rights over budgets and annual business plans. The regulator also noted a link to Naivas, a retail affiliate of the Phoenix group, which Savannah Brands supplies.
The holding rose to 34.35 per cent in the year to June 2025, when Phoenix spent MUR 82.5 million. African Originals separately reported Sh129.6 million (US$1 million) from Phoenix to expand manufacturing in Kenya. The latest purchase takes the holding to 37.65 per cent. Phoenix said earlier it intends to raise its stake to support Savannah Brands’ growth in East Africa.
A small player in a market EABL leads
The upside sits in a market with one dominant seller. In 2022, EABL’s Tusker Cider held about 79 per cent of Kenya’s cider market, against 1.5 per cent for Kenyan Originals. EABL keeps growing, as Khusoko reported when its double digit gains lifted Diageo’s first quarter.
African Originals is widening its reach. The company, founded in 2018, has expanded into Uganda with a craft range of ciders, gins, mixers and iced teas.
Phoenix wrote down its Kenyan holding in the same year
The same accounts show an impairment on the Kenyan joint venture. Directors tested the value of African Originals with a discounted cash flow model built on five years of management projections. They used a discount rate of 25.42 per cent and a perpetual growth rate of 7 per cent. The test produced losses of MUR 107.3 million for the Group and MUR 149.7 million for the Company.
The write down sits inside a weaker year for the Group. Profit after tax fell to MUR 417 million from MUR 804 million, even as revenue rose 26.0 per cent to MUR 16.89 billion on the consolidation of Seychelles Breweries. Impairment losses of MUR 359 million, higher finance costs and foreign exchange losses cut into earnings. The Group’s share of joint venture losses came to MUR 47.7 million.
