The COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) has formally opened a merger inquiry into the proposed acquisition of Metal Crowns Limited (Kenya) by Italian packaging firm Guala Closures S.P.A.
- •The transaction involves Guala Closures acquiring 100% of the issued share capital of Metal Crowns Limited (Kenya), a manufacturer of plastic closures and metal crowns used primarily in the beverage industry.
- •According to the filing, the acquisition will be executed through the purchase of shares in Mantiax Investments Limited, which owns 99.9999% of Metal Crowns Kenya.
- •Guala Closures, a joint stock company incorporated in Italy, is a global producer of high value-added closures for wine, spirits and bottled mineral water, with operational activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
Metal Crowns Kenya operates manufacturing facilities for both plastic closures and metal crowns in Kenya, and has a regional sales footprint across COMESA member states. Metal crowns are sold in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, while plastic closures are sold in the DRC, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
The parties state that there are minimal geographic overlaps between the acquiring firm and the target group, confined to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and only with respect to the sale and distribution of metal crowns.
The opening of the inquiry highlights COMESA’s expanding role in cross-border merger oversight, particularly in manufacturing and consumer-facing industrial sectors where regional supply chains and market concentration can have implications beyond national borders.
