Carlsberg and Heineken aspire to purchase S&N, owner of Finnish brewers Hartwall

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Finland’s second largest brewery Hartwall may be getting a new owner, namely the Dutch Heineken - that is if the plans by two international brewery giants made public on Wednesday come to fruition.
      The Danish Carlsberg and the Dutch Heineken are looking to buy and divide up Harwall’s present owner, the British Scottish & Newcastle brewery. The two beer giants revealed their joint plan in their Wednesday stock exchange statements. An official take-over bid is yet to be presented.
     
According to the plan, Carlsberg would take over Scottish and Newcastle’s BBH brewery operating in Russia and the Baltic States. The Danish brewery is already a part owner of BBH. In addition, Carlsberg would seize Scottish and Newcastle’s arms in France and Greece.
      The price of the British brewery is estimated at over EUR ten billion. Heineken, in turn, would take over Scottish and Newcastle’s operations in the rest of Europe. This would include the Finnish Hartwall, owned by the British brewery since 2002.
      With the planned division, any conflicts with the Finnish Competition Authority would be avoided, for Carlsberg already owns Finland’s largest brewery, Sinebrychoff.
     
As Heineken does not own any other Finnish breweries, the ownership of Hartwall slipping into its hands would presumably not upset the market balance in Finland.
      "Because of the considerable net sales of the companies, it is possible that the EU Commission will still want to look into the arrangement", reckons head of research Leena Passi of the Finnish Competition Authority.
      Sinebrychoff, Hartwall, and the Finnish-owned Olvi account for over 90 percent of all the beer sales in Finland.
      In addition to beer, Hartwall, just like its competitors, also produces cider, gin long drink, soft drinks, and sparkling mineral waters.
     
Hartwall’s possible change of ownership may take a while, for Scottish & Newcastle have adopted a negative stand towards the idea of dividing the company. The brewery characterises the plan as "unwelcome" and urges its owners to hold on to their shares.
      A power struggle may well be brewing up. According to the British newspaper Financial Times, the American breweries SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch may also consider putting in a bid for Scottish & Newcastle.
      Last week SABMiller announced it would amalgamate with another North American brewery, Molson Coors.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland´s largest beverage company sold to British brewery (15.2.2002)

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