C&C Group has reached agreement to buy the Vermont Hard Cider Company for $305 million (€233m) — a deal which, when completed, will give the Dublin-headquartered drinks group control of the two biggest cider producers in the US.

DRINKS group C&C has expanded further into the US, with the €20 million acquisition of that market’s second largest cider brand.

FRENCH wine-makers and dealers were convicted this week of selling millions of bottles of fake Pinot Noir to the US firm E&J Gallo in one of the biggest scams ever to rattle the wine world.