Brewing giant in talks
THE last wholly British-owned brewing giant today entered talks with its European suitors over a possible £7.8bn takeover.
Scottish and Newcastle, (S&N) which has a depot in Darlington, has finally agreed to open discussions with Carlsberg and Heineken after the two upped their offer to 800p a share - their fourth proposal since their pursuit of S&N began in October.
The 800p offer, which is subject to conditions including limited due diligence, according to S&N, proved to be the tipping point, as predicted by Tees Valley stockbroker Anthony Platts, divisional director of Wise Speke in Thornaby, in the Gazette earlier this week.
Mr Platts said the Carlsberg-Heineken consortium would need to bid as much as 800p a bring S&N to the table.
Earlier this month, S&N rejected a 780p-per-share offer.
An extension of a bid deadline to 24 January has been requested to enable the Consortium to complete due diligence.
