Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C), the drinks company, has sought clarification from the European Commission on the possible sale of Guinness's 49.6 per cent stake in the company, writes Bill Murdoch. It needs the clarification to plan the future development of the company, according to reliable industry sources. Mr Tony O'Brien, chief executive of C&C, said he could make "no comment" on the Guinness statement on Wednesday which said it had agreed "to dispose of certain minority shareholder interests, to ensure continued competition in distribution in Ireland". This agreement was designed to meet the EU's competition concerns following the agreement to merge with GrandMet.

These interests include the 49.6 per cent in C&C - Allied Domecq owns the majority 50.4 per cent - and the 33.3 per cent stake in Edward Dillon, the wine and spirit distributor. C&C was yesterday trying to find out if it forms part of the agreement, according to the sources. While C&C has not yet received any specific clarification, industry sources said they would be surprised if the sale of Guinness's stake in C&C, or part of it, was not part of the agreement.

A Guinness spokesman had already said that a review team had been established to look at all the options. That team will also decide how much of the shareholdings to sell and how the sale would be conducted. Guinness plans to have reached decisions within 15 months. C&C employs 1,600 people of which 1,350 are in Ireland. It will shortly announce results for the year to August 31st, 1997. These are expected to show strong growth in sales and profits. C&C generated a profit of £43.1 million on sales of £342 million in the previous year.