Diageo is looking to increase its stake in Guinness Nigeria through an offer to the division's existing shareholders.

The company, which owns 54.3% of the unit, hopes to raise its holding to up to 70%. It will offer shareholders a maximum of NGN175 per share, representing a 40% rise on Guinness Nigeria's closing share price on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday.

Diageo intends to retain the company's stock listing. Guinness Nigeria has a total of just over 1.5bn ordinary shares in issue.

The move suggests that Diageo has seen an end to its struggles in Nigeria. In March, CEO Ivan Menezes conceded that the group had “made mis-steps” in the country in recent years and that it was “not yet out of the woods”. In fiscal-2014, overall volumes in Nigeria slid by 9%, while net sales fell by 14%. Subsequently, in October, Diageo veteran John O’Keeffe replaced Seni Adetu as the unit's CEO.

In the 12 months to the end of June, Diageo recorded a 6% lift in sales in the country.

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