Norton Rose has taken the key role on the largest private equity investment into Ethiopia to date.

The deal saw the UK law firm advise Duet Private Equity on its acquisition of a controlling interest in the country's largest independent brewery business, Dashen Brewery.

While the value of the deal is modest in international terms, $90m (£57m) marks the largest-ever private equity investment into the market, with Norton Rose fielding a team led by City corporate partner Bayo Odubeko (pictured), while Dashen was advised by its in-house counsel.

The Ethiopian brewery sector saw a significant amount of M&A activity in 2011, with international drinks giants including Heineken and Diageo paying more than $400m (£252m) for three state-operated breweries.

The Duet investment will be used to increase the capacity at Dashen's existing site in Gondar, Ethiopia and develop new production facilities in Addis Ababa.

Odubeko commented: "Ethiopia is an economy witnessing significant growth, and the increased M&A activity in Ethiopia is indicative of that. The 2011 M&A activity in the country's brewing sector is 
a signal that consumer 
demand is healthy and continuing to grow."

Duet Group is a UK asset management firm with over $2.7bn (£1.7bn) of assets under management, while Dashen, the maker of Dashen and Royal, is the only independent brewery in Ethiopia and has a market share close to 20%.