The German city of Hanover is preparing to file a lawsuit to stop the Belgian beer giant Interbrew from buying Gilde Brauerei, Just-drinks.com reported. On November the 15th Interbrew announced a EUR 525 million deal on acquiring Brauergilde Hannover, the parent company of Gilde Brauerei. According to the same source, the German city of Hanover is also taking Brauergilde Hannover to court over company’s decision to accept the offer. Although more than 60% of Brauergilde Hannover shareholders attended an extraordinary meeting on Friday and voted in favour of changing the company's by-laws to allow for its sale to Interbrew, the city is arguing that a simple majority was enough to approve the sale. The city treasurer said: "For a change in the company status to allow a takeover in the first place, a 75% majority is needed. There was no 75% majority, but only a simple majority."

21 November, 2002