Carlsberg A/S and Heineken NV agreed to buy Scottish & Newcastle Plc for 7.8 billion pounds ($15.4 billion) after a three-month battle, according to Heineken press release, January 25.

The boards of Sunrise Acquisitions Limited (“BidCo”) and Scottish & Newcastle plc (“S&N”) announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer to be made by BidCo, a newly incorporated company jointly owned by Carlsberg A/S (“Carlsberg”) and Heineken N.V. (“Heineken”) for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of S&N (the “Offer”). Under the terms of the Offer, Scheme Shareholders will receive 800 pence in cash for each S&N Share. The Offer will be implemented by way of a court-sanctioned Scheme of Arrangement (the “Scheme”). The Offer values S&N’s entire existing issued share capital at approximately £7.6 billion and the entire issued and to be issued share capital at approximately £7.8 billion. No final dividend will be payable. The Offer of 800 pence per S&N Share represents: • a premium of 50.7 per cent. to the Closing Price of 531 pence ...More Info

United Breweries, engaged in manufacturing and trading of beer including licensing of brands, disclosed a steep drop in net profit for the quarter ended December 2007, IRIS reported January 24. During the quarter, the company experienced a 94.56% fall in profit to Rs 6.90 million from Rs 126.90 million in the quarter ended December 2006.

Net sales for the quarter rose 62.04% to Rs 3,013.80 million compared with Rs 1,859.90 million in the corresponding quarter, a year ago.

Total income rose 61.05% to Rs 3,063.40 million for the quarter ended December 2007 from Rs 1,902.10 million for the same period, last year.

The diluted loss per share, after extraordinary items, stood at Rs 0.07 for the quarter ended December 2007.

Highlights of quarter:

The company has filed its draft letter of offer with the SEBI on Jan. 10, 2008 for issue of equity shares on rights basis up to Rs 4,250 million. Earlier in September 2007, the board approved to raise funds by way of issue of equity shares to the existing equity shareholders.

Beer consumption reached 100 litres per capita at the end of last year, which means Romania is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of annual beer consumption, according to Ziarul Financiar, January 23. Romanians last year drank 20.6 million hectolitres of beer, over 16% more than in 2006, due to the high temperatures registered last summer and the rising purchasing power of the population.

"Beer consumption has registered a heavy increase in recent years and reached 100 litres per capita late last year - double the volume in 1990, when the level stood at around 50 litres," stated Vifor Versescu, general manager of the Association of Independent Brewers (PSIPBR). After having reached a consumption of 100 litres per capita, Romania joined the top ten countries in terms of beer consumption in the world, after the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria with 160, 118 and 111 litres per capita.

A year before, Romania "celebrated" the fact that it met the European average of annual beer consumption per capita, of 80 litres, after brewers' initial forecasts predicted 90 litres per capita for the end of 2007, with the 100-litre threshold forecast for as late as 2008-2009.

As a result of the ...More Info

Russian production of beer increased substantially in 2007, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said, according to Interfax, January 23. Beer production in 2007 increased 15.9% to 0.12 million hectoliters.

Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co., China's third-biggest brewer, rose the most in three weeks after announcing plans to expand production to increase its share of the world's largest beer market, Bloomberg reported January 25.

Yanjing rose 4.7 percent to 23.97 yuan at the 3 p.m. trading close in Shenzhen, its biggest gain since Jan. 4.

The brewer aims to expand beer production to 5 million kiloliters by 2010, 25 percent more than in 2007, making it one of the world's eight biggest beermakers, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to Shenzhen's stock exchange today.

Yanjing, China's only major brewer without an overseas partner, is competing with Tsingtao Brewery Co. and China Resources Snow Breweries Co. to boost capacity as higher wages increase consumer demand.

``Their expansion will further increase competition and quicken the pace of consolidation of China's beer industry,'' said Guo Changsheng, an analyst at Shanghai Securities Co.

Yanjing plans to increase annual brewing capacity by 975,000 kiloliters and expand barley-processing capacity by 150,000 metric tons. Barley is a main ingredient in beer.

The expansion may boost annual profit by 120 million yuan, and sales by 2.53 billion yuan, Yanjing said.

The company posted 2006 net income of 306.9 million yuan and sales of 5.31 billion ...More Info

Heineken could find itself in a battle for control of India's top beer firm, United Breweries, once its bid for the brewer's part-owner, Scottish & Newcastle, is sealed, Reuters reported January 25.

Heineken and Carlsberg announced a 7.8 billion pound ($15.3 billion) bid to take over S&N, Britain's largest brewer.

Under the break-up plan, Heineken will get S&N's 37.5 percent in United Breweries, which makes the popular Kingfisher beer and has about half the fast-growing Indian beer market.

Indian company laws mean that change of ownership and board influence could trigger an open offer for a further 20 percent of the company, which is valued at around $1.7 billion.

But UB Group, controlled by tycoon Vijay Mallya, also holds 37.5 percent of United Breweries and is unlikely to want someone else to have a larger stake.

Under the terms of their agreement, UB could, under certain conditions, buy back S&N's stake at a "fair price", said UB Group Chief Financial Officer Ravi Nedungadi, without elaborating. "We are in a wait-and-watch mode," Nedungadi told Reuters.

One analyst said Mallya would likely buy back the stake, or approach private equity firms, rather than cede it to a rival brewer.

"It's not in his interest to let go when competition is ...More Info

European Commission ratified the document, by which the expression “Czech Beer” would be registered in European Union Trade Bulletin, Russian Beer Union reported January 24.

This mean that “Czech Beer” will be a trade mark protected by EU, and no one, besides Czech companies could use this expression in products promotion. According to Karel Korsaj, Czech Institute of Beer Research’s director, Czech beer is made of some specific types of hops and malt.

Czech Republic is the 9th beer exporter in the World.

The malting barley market in Europe remains steady despite last days monetary crisis, La Depeche published January 24.

Brewers are buying spring barley varieties, but the supply, mainly constituted by the re-selling, stays tight. For winter barley the market continue to be difficult.

The CWB has confirmed that it will offer forward sales contracts from the malting barley pool to interested maltsters and other customers, in addition to its innovative new CashPlus program for producers, according to CWB’s press release, January 24.

"We continue to encourage the industry to offer contracts to barley farmers under CashPlus," CWB president and CEO Greg Arason said. "Cash-buying discussions will continue because we believe many farmers would prefer the upfront certainty of a cash-pricing option. We will also facilitate sales to those maltsters that decide to accept deliveries from farmers who choose pooling."

In 2008-09, the CWB will sell under normal contract conditions for shipment prior to December 31, 2008. Prices for pre-harvest sales with shipment periods past January 1, 2009 will include a risk premium to ensure the pool attracts deliveries from farmers and that pool participants are not disadvantaged.

Arason said discussions with the industry over the past few months centred on the ability of the CashPlus program to deal with upheaval and uncertainty for farmers and the industry, such as what occurred last year after the federal government announced its intention to create an open barley market.

"This regulatory and legislative uncertainty continues this year, which makes ...More Info

Researchers in Germany say that a cancer-fighting substance found in hops could be enhanced to brew a special anti-cancer beer, China Daily reported January 25.

The discovery could lead to healthier beers and food supplements. The result could one day be that when you hold up a glass and say, "To your health," you would actually be toasting a triumph of the brewer's art over disease.

The preliminary studies indicate xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes that can trigger the cancer process, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens, according to the science newswire Ivanhoe.

"It's very healthy. I think the ingredients in the beer are very good," says Dr Werner Back, a brewing technology expert at the Technical University of Munich.

Xanthohumol contains more powerful antioxidants than vitamin E and some studies indicate it helps reduce oxidation of bad cholesterol, the newswire reported.

"Xanthohumol has been shown to be a very active substance against cancer," says Dr Markus Herrmann, also of Munich.

"It comes in small sticky beads, which you find within the hops."

Hops have always been known to possess medicinal properties and are used in herbal medicines as a muscle relaxant.

Other compounds found in hops are potent phytoestrogens.

Scientists say these ...More Info

M. Váňová(1), S. Palík(1), J. Hajšlová(2), I. Burešová(1) (1) Agricultural Research Institute Kroměříž, Ltd., Czech Republic (2) Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract
Effects of the year, previous crop and control of leaf diseases on grain yield, test weight, protein and starch content, Fusarium head blight (FHB) and deoxynivalenol (DON) content in grain were investigated in four spring barley varieties. The trials were set up in 2001–2004 at Kroměříž (235 m above sea level, average annual temperature 8.7°C, annual precipitation sum 599 mm) in a five-course crop rotation, where spring barley followed the previous crops sugar beet, winter wheat, maize, and oilseed rape. The experimental years differed a lot in temperature and precipitation. The years 2001 and 2002 were dry and warm and grain yield was much lower as compared to that in the following years even though the other growing conditions were identical. The most stable quality parameters were obtained after the previous crop sugar beet. The average value of test weight was 661 g/l (ranging from 629 to 685 g/l), protein content 11.2% (10.3–11.7%) and starch content 61.5% (58.9–64.9%). Grain yield averaged 6.67 t/ha. Test weight after maize was on average 658 g/l (619–692 g/l), protein content 11.5% (10.1–12.4%), starch content 60.7% (59.2–63.8%), and grain yield 6.24 t/ha. Test weight and starch content were lower and protein content higher after oilseed rape and winter wheat. A higher FHB incidence and DON content were found after the previous crop maize. In 2001 and 2002 with strong water deficit during the growing seasons, more grains infected by Fusarium spp. were detected and DON content was higher too. The increase was due to a short rainy period at heading of spring barley. Problems of variable conditions for growing malting varieties of spring barley and current possibilities of producing both good grain yields and quality are discussed. Keywords: malting spring barley; yield; quality parameters; Fusarium spp.; deoxynivalenol
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