Sri Lanka's Browns Investments has taken over tea plantations and factories owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The deal expands Brown's tea processing capacity to 87 million kilograms, making it one of the world's largest tea companies.
Natalie Roos, CEO of Lipton's Teas, said: “Browns is the perfect partner with the credibility, capability and scale to work with us to raise standards across the tea industry.” Ta.
In Kenya, Browns will take over Lipton Kenya's estate, which consists of 11 plantations and eight factories across Kericho, Bomet and Limuru counties, the tea-producing heartlands of western Kenya.
The multi-billion shilling Lipton's Tees assets were bought by European private equity group CVC Capital Partners from Kenya's Unilever less than three years ago.
The company said a 15% stake in the assets acquired by the Browns will be reserved for the Kericho and Bomet communities where the properties are located, through a community welfare trust.
Communities will also receive an initial Sh1 billion in funding for development initiatives.
Liptons and Browns said in a joint statement: “The Kenyan government has supported companies in identifying opportunities for local communities to benefit from partnerships and the future growth of the industry.”
CVC acquired Lipton Estate in 2021 as part of its €4.5 billion (Sh644.53 billion) acquisition of Unilever's tea division, then named Ekaterra. Private equity firms Advent International and Carlyle had backed out of acquiring Unilever's tea business, citing concerns. Regarding working conditions on plantations.
