Scottish & Newcastle Agrees to Sale

Heineken would pick up U.S. operation.

After months of drama, Heineken NV and Carlsberg A/S are poised to take over Scottish & Newcastle.

Scottish & Newcastle, the brewer of Newcastle Brown Ale, McEwan’s and Strongbow cider, has agreed to a $15.3 all-cash offer, the companies announced Friday.

As noted by Conde Naste’s Portfolio, that price is 10 percent higher than Heineken and Carlsberg’s earlier – rebuffed – offer last fall.

Assuming the deal goes through, Heineken would take over S&N’s operations in the United States and the Americas and in other markets including the United Kingdom and India.

Carlsberg, meanwhile, would gain control of Baltic Beverages Holding and S&N’s French, Greek and Chinese operations.

From the Associated Press report:

"Sam Hart, analyst at Charles Stanley & Co., predicted that there would be no difficulty in gaining regulatory approval in the U.S., European Union, Russia and Ukraine.

"'The emergence of counter-bidders looks very unlikely, given the level of the offer and unattractive growth prospects in S&N's core Western European markets,' Hart added."

The Portfolio.com story can be seen here.

The AP story can be seen here.