Heineken hopeful of Beamish takeover

Heineken Ireland managing director Geert Van Loo is hopeful that the drinks group will be allowed to acquire Beamish & Crawford in Cork as part of his parent company's £7.8 billion joint takeover with Carlsberg of Scottish & Newcastle.

"This is what we are working on and we are planning for success," Mr Van Loo told The Irish Times. "We want to make these [ into] one company.

"Firstly, we have to get the approval of our shareholders and from competition authorities in Brussels and maybe in Dublin. It's a little bit too early to speculate on any outcome in that respect."

Heineken Ireland yesterday released 2007 results, which showed that its sales here grew by 4 per cent to €346 million while volumes rose by 3 per cent. The brewer had a 21.7 per cent share of the Irish beer market last year. Heineken remained the number one lager taking a 17 per cent share of the beer market. Murphy's had a 5 per cent share of the stout market, the same as in 2006.

A merged Heineken and Beamish & Crawford operation would have a 30 per cent share of the Irish beer market, raising competition issues.

Mr Van Loo, however, said the merged entity would still be dwarfed by Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, which has a 58 per cent share of the Irish beer market.

"Wouldn't it be very logical to say that we would bring more competition to the marketplace and that we would be able to challenge more the guys in St James Gate [Guinness's Dublin brewery]?" he argued.

He said competition in the Irish beer market was increasing with a large number of overseas brands now being distributed here. "Having a brewery on the island is no longer a pre-requisite for doing business here."

Heineken is hoping to get control of S&N's businesses in Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, the US and India with Carlsberg acquiring the rest.

The European Commission is considering the proposed S&N deal and has said it will give a ruling on March 18th.

Heineken's Amsterdam-based parent yesterday reported a 6.2 per cent rise in global revenues to €12.6 billion. Beer volumes rose by 5.5 per cent while its net profit declined by 33.4 per cent to €807 million.

The brewer said it expected raw material and packaging costs to rise by 15 per cent in 2008, which it hopes to "fully pass on" in most markets.