[LONDON] SABMiller plc said it will sell a US$1.09 billion stake in South African hotel and casino operator Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd as the world's second-biggest brewer looks to bolster beverage operations in Africa.

Following a review of its 39.6 per cent holding in the Johannesburg-based company, SABMiller will divest the stake in a two-stage transaction involving a sale to institutional investors and a buyback of shares by Tsogo Sun, the maker of Peroni and Castle Lite said yesterday in a statement.

The beverage maker generates almost one-third of its earnings from the African continent, and South Africa is the second-biggest provider of the company's revenue after Latin America.