East African Breweries Limited's plans to end its partnership with rival SABMiller to join another brewer were put on ice after the London High Court stopped the termination of an agreement between them.

In a ruling passed on Tuesday, Diageo -majority shareholder in EABL with a 50 per cent stake - and SABMiller were ordered to go into an arbitration process expected to start in the coming days to search for a middle ground of breaking up the seven-year marriage.

EABL joined Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL), in which SAB Miller has a 52 per cent stake, under the agreement signed in 2002. SABMiller agreed to sell 20 per cent of TBL to EABL in exchange of a similar stake in its Kenyan subsidiary. This deal saw SABMiller exiting Kenya as a direct competitor to EABL, and the latter did the same in Tanzania. The two firms were supposed to manufacture and distribute each other's flagship brands.

Now with the court sending the dispute to an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel, EABL will have to wait before it can consumate its partnership with Serengeti Breweries, TBL's main rival. Some sources indicated the injunction would run until 2011, delaying EABL's intentions to increase its market share in Tanzania.

This means that the current agreement between the two parties, where EABL has come out worse in terms of profits it contributes to SAB Miller compared to what it receives, will have to hold until an agreement is reached.

The partnership agreement is said to have lapsed 18 months ago but EABL was reluctant to renew it citing poor positioning of its brands in Tanzania.