Nairobi, Jan. 7 -- A commercial dispute in Kenya's beer industry has taken a new turn after a local distributor asked the High Court to block British multinational Diageo Plc from selling its majority stake in East African Breweries Limited (EABL) to Japan's Asahi Group.

Bia Tosha Distributors has moved to court seeking urgent orders to stop the deal valued at about $2.3 billion (Sh296.7 billion).

The petitioner and Diageo entities are engaged in a legal battle, with the parties fighting over whether the distributor has exclusive rights to multiple territories, including in the capital Nairobi.

Bia Tosha now wants Diageo barred from selling, transferring, or disposing of its shareholding in EABL and its Kenyan subsidiaries, including K...