Carlsberg A/S welcomed comments from Scottish & Newcastle Plc Chief Executive Officer John Dunsmore signaling that the U.K. brewer is open to an offer, Danish newswire Direkt said, citing a Carlsberg spokesman, Bloomberg posted December 27th.

``If we're looking at a more open stance, then that's good news,'' Jens Peter Skaarup told the Copenhagen-based newswire. Carlsberg believes it has already made a good offer for the brewer, the newswire said.

Dunsmore told workers he may have to start talks with Carlsberg and Heineken NV if they make a significantly higher offer for the brewer, the Scotsman reported Dec. 24, citing an internal memo to staff. Carlsberg and Heineken have made an informal offer to pay 750 pence per S&N share and must make any formal bid by no later than Jan. 21, the U.K.'s merger regulator said Dec. 17.

The proposed bid is ``a good offer,'' Skaarup said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Bere Mures producer, the biggest independent player on the Romanian beer market is now up for sale. Its owners are trying to find an investor to pay at least 150 million euros, Ziarul Ninanciar posted on December 24th. Top contenders in the race for the takeover of this brewer are SAB Miller, which operates in Romania through its Ursus Breweries branch, and an investment fund.

Its officials appraise Bere Mures at approximately 200 million euros; the company's profit stands at about 20 million euros and it has no debts in its balance sheet.

"We are in talks with an European investment fund that is interested to buy the entire business with the three assets, that is the brewery, the mineral water factory and the touristic complex we have, which is the main condition of the deal. Those at SAB Miller are not interested in our mineral water business, which is why I think the investment fund is the favourite," stated Virgil Mailat, general manager and shareholder of the company. Bere Mures, which makes Neumarkt, Dracula and Sovata, entered the mineral water market this year when it launched the Cezara sparkling mineral water and the Cheile Cibului still water.

The company ...More Info

A poor summer and an ageing population dragged German per capita beer consumption down to a record low of 112.5 litres in 2007, the country's brewing association said on December 23rd. Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn predicted little or no improvement in the year ahead. "We will have to get used to long-term declines in consumption figures," he told the Welt newspaper.

Hahn predicted the decline would begin to hurt the 1,284 breweries in Germany - more than in any other country. While no closures were likely in the immediate future, there would probably be mergers and acquisitions, he said. "We are going to see an increased concentration in favour of the larger brewing companies, Hahn said.

He also predicted little or no improvement in the year ahead. "We will have to get used to long-term declines in consumption figures," Hahn told the paper.

The 2007 figure was 3.5 litres down on that for 2006, which was boosted by Germany's hosting of the Football World Cup, and confirmed a trend that set in a decade ago. The soccer World Cup last year did wonders for beer sales in Germany. Only once in the last nine years did beer ...More Info

A perfect storm of factors affecting beer making and distribution have come to a head, meaning that consumers will be paying more for their favorite brews next year, Online Athens posted on December 22nd.

A shortage of beer making grains, higher prices on those commodities, the weakening U.S. dollar and increasing costs for transportation have added to the price of brewing.

Hops and malted barley, the two essential ingredients for flavoring beer, have gone up in price significantly in the past month, with hops rising by as much as 400 percent in some markets. Hops provide the aroma and bitterness to beer while barley gives it color and sweetness. The skyrocketing costs of both will impact small breweries and imports the most.

"In the course of one week, hops prices increased three to four times what I was paying," said John Cochran, a founder and owner of Terrapin Beer Co. "A month ago, I was paying $5 a pound for Cascade (a popular hops) and now it's 20 bucks if I can find it."

English malts rose nearly 28 percent, and German malts increased even more at 47 percent, said Matt Buley, brewmaster at Copper Creek Brewing Co. in downtown Athens.

Those escalating costs are ...More Info

Lion Nathan says it has received Overseas Investment Office consent to buy 16.7 hectares of freehold land in South Auckland to build a $NZ250 million brewery, NZPA posted December 20th.

The land will be the site of a new manufacturing and warehousing facility for the New Zealand arm of the Tasmanian boutique brewer J Boag & Son.

Works will begin in January at the industrial site in East Tamaki.

Lion Nathan also said it had been cleared by the Australian competition watchdog to buy Boag from Philippines-based San Miquel Corp for $A325 million ($NZ373 million).

The Sydney-based company, in which Japanese brewery Kirin Holdings has a 46.1 per cent stake, said today it had secured the site – subject to approval by the Overseas Investment Office.

The new Auckland facility was expected to be up and running in about four years, Lion said.

In July, Lion announced it had entered into an agreement to sell its Auckland brewery site in Newmarket, nowadays a swanky upmarket area of the city, to AMP Capital Investors for $162m.

Most of the sale price will be payable when Lion leaves the site in about four years, but $50m will be realised this financial year.

The new manufacturing and warehousing facility would better ...More Info

Companhia de Bebidas das Américas – AmBev (“AmBev”) announced on December 21st that its board of directors has approved a plan to make a voluntary offer to purchase any and all Class A shares and Class B shares (including Class B shares held as American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”)) of its subsidiary Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa), Société Anonyme (“Quinsa”) that are not owned by AmBev or its subsidiaries. AmBev owns, directly and indirectly, approximately 97% of the voting interest and approximately 91% of the economic interest in Quinsa.

The draft offer to purchase and ancillary documentation will be promptly filed with the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg. The offer will be governed by general provisions of Luxembourg law and not fall within the scope of the Luxembourg law of May 10, 2006 implementing Directive 2004/25 EC on takeovers. The offer will also comply with applicable U.S. federal securities laws and regulations, including the disclosure requirements of Rule 13e-3, and will commence upon filing of the offer to purchase and ancillary documentation on Schedule TO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The offer will be made by AmBev and the purchase price will be U.S.$4.0625 per Class A share, U.S.$40.625 ...More Info

Canada’s federal government is going to court Feb. 26 in an attempt to appeal a decision from last summer that would have allowed western Canadian barley to be sold on the open market, including North Dakota elevators, Minot Daily News posted December 26th.

Just as the 2007 harvest was approaching, agriculture minister Chuck Strahl announced that barley would no longer be part of the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing monopoly and farmers could sell their malt and feed barley to any buyer.

But on July 31, a judge in Calgary ruled the federal government can’t change the way barley is marketed without the consent of Parliament. Thus, the monopoly remained intact.

Ken Ritter, the chairman of the CWB’s board of directors, said it’s important to follow the law in making a decision that is so important to so many farmers.

Ritter stopped short of calling the government’s decision a mistake, but said the wheat board’s monopoly should remain as it is since it works well for western Canadian farmers.

“The CWB does not believe there are strong legal grounds for an appeal,” Ritter said. “We had a very strong case when we launched our judicial review and we received a decisive decision. We are confident we ...More Info

Published by: The Brewers of Europe

Executive Summary
The European Commission will review current fusarium legislation in order to revise or fix maximum residue limits in cereals and cereal products. In a response to a Commission call for information, EBC/The Brewers of Europe initiated a survey on fusarium toxins in beer. Out of the 9 fusarium toxins analysed, only T-2 and HT-2 occurred in levels which, taking account of a consumption of 1 liter/day beer, would contribute to the temporarily tolerable daily intake for the sum of T-2/HT-2: up to 11%. The results for the other fusarium toxins show that levels are very low if they are detected at all, or at a level which is well within the established safety range. Research on the fate of T-2 and HT-2 in the beer value chain revealed that the presence of these toxins in beer depends on their levels in the malt and cereals used in the brewing process. Whilst malting reduces T-2/HT-2 levels of brewing barley by 50 to 75%, most (65 to 100%) of the T-2/HT-2 present in malt will persist into the beer. The Fusarium Stakeholders' meeting organized by the European Commission in January 2007 revealed that there is an increase of barley contamination by T-2/HT-2 toxins from 2003 to 2006. This increase is due to barley contaminations by Fusarium Langsethiae and needs to be further monitored. EBCl The Brewers of Europe therefore recommends that a new survey on T-2 and HT-2 be carried out in order to assess the variation of contamination from crop to crop. The Brewers of Europe supports the scientifically valid principie that regulatory limits for mycotoxins, if appropriate, be set at their control point. In the case of T-2 and HT-2, field mycotoxins, this is the malting bartley.
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