E-Malt.com News article: United Kingdom: AB InBev rumoured to be planning the sale of Scotland’s most popular lager

AB InBev, the Belgium-based brewing giant, might be planning to sell its Tennent’s brand, the Times Online communicated on July, 21.

The brewer failed to quash speculation that the brand and its Wellpark brewery in Glasgow could be sold as it sought to reduce debts.

According to reports, investment bank Lazard has been brought in to find a buyer for the brand which is thought to be worth about £86 mln.

Tennent’s has about 60% of the Scottish lager market.

A spokesman for the brewer declined to comment.

Last month, AB InBev withdrew Australian beer brand Castlemaine XXXX from the UK market after deciding not to renew its UK distribution deal with XXXX owner Lion Nathan because of “challenging market conditions” in the UK market.

There has been no suggestion of job losses, but the proposal has raised concern about the prospects for the drinks industry in Scotland. This month Diageo, the global drinks giant, announced that it intended to cut 900 jobs across the country, including 700 in Kilmarnock.

A spokeswoman said only that the company was declining to comment on the reports.

The company came under pressure from MSPs yesterday to clarify their intentions. Paul Martin, the Labour MSP whose Glasgow Springburn constituency incorporates the brewery, said that he was seeking an urgent meeting with management and unions. “It is vital that the jobs and conditions of staff are maintained, and I have no doubt that can happen,” he said. “We also need to see a clear timetable.

“This is a profitable and important brand in Scotland, and it clearly has a great future. Tennent’s is still Scotland’s most famous lager.”

The Wellpark brewery, which was founded in 1740, is one of Glasgow’s oldest employers, with about 300 workers. Tennent’s produces 100,000 barrels of lager a year. The brand is also the sponsor of the Scottish national football team and the T in the Park music festival.

The recession has forced Tennent’s to abandon new products. The bottled beer 1885, named after the year that the company was created, was withdrawn less than 12 months after it was launched.

Beer sales in Scotland are now estimated to be at their lowest since the 1940s and the latest industry figures showed that beer sales across Britain had dropped 8.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, the highest fourth-quarter fall since records began in 1997. The lager remains in demand internationally, though, selling in 31 different countries around the world.

A Scottish government spokesman said: “The Scottish government has already contacted the company to seek clarification from Tennent’s about their plans. While they have described the weekend press reports as speculation and are clear that it is business as usual at their Scottish operations, we shall be meeting them to discuss these matters and the opportunities in Scotland.”


22 July, 2009