Italian firm Guala Closures SpA, which supplies closures for wines, spirits, and glass-bottled water, plans to acquire a 47-year-old Kenyan firm specialising in the manufacture and sale of plastic caps and metal crowns.
Guala has applied for regulatory clearance to acquire a 100 percent stake in Metal Crowns Limited (Kenya) at a yet-to-be-disclosed price. The Metal Crowns stake is held by Mantiax Investments Limited.
The proposed transaction has been notified to the Comesa Competition Commission, which has launched a formal inquiry into the deal. Completion of the transaction will allow Guala to enter the plastic closures market for non-alcoholic beverages, complementing its current portfolio.
“The parties submitted from the target group (Metal Crowns) perspective that the proposed transaction is expected to bring operational efficiencies and present an opportunity for the sellers (Mantiax) to realise their investment in the target group,” reads the commission’s inquiry notice.
Guala is a global player in specialty closure solutions for the beverage sector. The firm already has a local unit in Kenya called Guala Closures East Africa Ltd, which it set up in 2017. The company's other units in Africa are in South Africa and Nigeria.
Guala began Nairobi operations in 2018 with a plant dedicated to serving the local spirits market with complex anti-counterfeiting closures integrating advanced technologies. The firm uses the Nairobi unit to serve other markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.
The targeted company, Metal Crowns, was incorporated in 1978 and has production plants in Nairobi (Kenya), Dares Salaam (Tanzania), and Hosur (India). Some of its key customers are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Castel, Heineken, Diageo, and AB inBev.
Metal Crowns manufactures the tops in Kenya and sells them locally as well as to countries such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In addition, it sells plastic closures in DRC, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
Previous disclosures by Guala in October last year, when it signed the sale agreement, showed Metal Crowns generated aggregated revenues of approximately €32 million (Sh4.8 billion) in the 12-month period ending July 2025.
Guala wants to use the acquisition to expand its presence in East African markets, which it argues are fast-growing, supported by favourable demographics, economic development, and rising consumption.
“By combining our international expertise with Metal Crowns’ local strength, we aim to build a solid platform to drive sustainable growth and innovation across the region. Leveraging Metal Crowns’ longstanding relationships with global customers, we expect to gain further opportunities to expand into other East African countries,” said Andrea Lodetti, CEO of Guala, when the agreement was signed.
According to a notice issued by the Comesa commission, the acquisition will be assessed under Articles 24 and 26 of the Comesa Competition Regulations to determine whether it is likely to substantially prevent or lessen competition within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa region.
Guala and Metal Crowns have told the regional competition watchdog that there are limited geographic overlaps between their operations.
The two firms explained that the overlaps are confined to Zambia and Zimbabwe and relate only to the sale and distribution of metal crowns. They further indicated that they do not have a vertical relationship in the Comesa region.
