Sri Lanka’s Browns Investment Plc has taken over tea estates and factories owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions in Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
The deal will push Browns’ processing capacity to 87 million kilogrammes of tea, making it one of the world’s largest tea companies.
“Browns is the perfect partner with credibility, capabilities, and scale to work with us to raise standards in the whole tea industry,” Liptons Teas chief executive officer Natahlie Roos said.
In Kenya, Browns will take over Lipton Kenya estates, which comprise 11 plantations and eight factories across the Kericho, Bomet, and Limuru counties in western Kenya’s tea-growing heartland.
The multibillion-shilling Liptons Teas assets were purchased by European private equity group CVC Capital Partners from Unilever in Kenya less than three years ago.
The company said a 15 percent stake of the assets acquired by Browns would be reserved for communities in Kericho and Bomet where the estates are situated through a Community Welfare Trust.
The communities will also get an initial Sh1 billion in funding for development initiatives.
“The Government of Kenya has supported companies in identifying opportunities for local communities to benefit from the partnership and future growth of the industry,” Liptons and Browns said in a joint statement.
CVC acquired the Lipton estates as part of its €4.5 billion (Sh644.53 billion) purchase of Unilever’s tea division, then named Ekaterra, in 2021. Private equity firms Advent International and Carlyle had walked away from buying the Unilever tea business because of concerns about the working conditions on its plantations.
