Cork-based brewer Beamish & Crawford could be acquired by rival Heineken after its UK-based parent Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) yesterday accepted a £7.8 billion (€10.44 billion)joint offer from the Amsterdam-based drinks group and Carlsberg. Ciarán Hancock,Business Affairs Correspondent, reports.
Under the terms of the £8-a-share deal, Heineken would take over the UK and Ireland business, which includes Beamish & Crawford.
The deal is subject to shareholder approval from all three companies and clearance from competition regulators.
Given the size of the deal, the European Commission will decide if it can proceed. There is a possibility, however, that the Competition Authority here could seek to have the Irish element of the deal referred back to this jurisdiction. Alternatively, the Irish body could participate in the European Commission's deliberations as part of an advisory committee of national competition regulators.
Informed sources said that it could be June before the deal takes effect.
Beamish & Crawford employs 160 staff in Ireland and occupies a four-acre site on South Main Street close to Cork's city centre.
It operates from the oldest brewery in Ireland and brews and distributes Beamish Genuine Irish Stout, Beamish Red Irish Ale, Miller Genuine Draft, Kronenbourg 1664, Foster's and Carling lager, San Miguel and Scrumpy Jack.
It is believed to have achieved sales of more than €100 million in 2007 and profits of about €2.5 million. The brewer has spent about €20 million over the past five years upgrading its facilities. Heineken has a brewery on the northside of Cork's city centre. It is the number one lager in the Irish market and also brews Murphy's Irish Stout. Its portfolio of brands also includes Coors Light and Amstel lager. In the six months to the end of June, Heineken Ireland said its turnover rose by 3 per cent year on year to €153 million. It had a 21.6 per cent share of the €3.2 billion a year Irish beer market, which is led by Diageo, makers of Guinness.
With Beamish & Crawford controlling about 9 per cent of the beer market, industry sources question whether the Irish part of the deal will proceed.
Sources have indicated that a management-led buyout of Beamish & Crawford could be a possibility if the deal falls on competition grounds.
If the takeover of S&N gets the green light, Heineken would also gain control of the businesses in Portugal, Finland, Belgium, the US and India.
Carlsberg will acquire S&N's share of BBH, a brewer in the Baltic region in which the Danish group already has a 50 per cent shareholding. It will also take control of S&N's French, Greek, Chinese and Vietnamese operations.
The deal would give Heineken ownership of Strongbow cider, a major competitor in the UK to Magners, which is owned by Clonmel-based C&C.
Magners has been under pressure in Britain for the past nine months, due to a wet summer and stiff price competition from rivals, including Strongbow.
Analysts have suggested that the distraction of a protracted acquisition process could deflect management attention at Strongbow and be beneficial to C&C and Magners in the short term.
