EU delays decision on Beamish merger

The EU Competition Authority has delayed until April 4 any decision relating to the takeover of Beamish & Crawford (B&C) by the Heineken and Carlsberg breweries.

For the first time, the Irish Competition Authority has asked the EU merger regulator to advise on the takeover of Scottish & Newcastle’s Cork subsidiary Beamish & Crawford.

S&N, Britain’s biggest brewery, has been bought jointly by Heineken and Carlsberg in a deal worth €10.7bn.

The Irish end of the transaction would see Heineken take over Beamish where 150 are employed in Cork.

This element of the multi-billion euro deal has been referred to both competition authorities in Ireland and Brussels.

This is the first such action by the Irish authority.

Published courtesy of The Evening Echo