HEINEKEN HAS reiterated its determination to take control of Cork brewer Beamish & Crawford as part of its joint takeover with Carlsberg of Beamish parent Scottish & Newcastle.
Heineken and Carlsberg are dividing the assets of Scottish & Newcastle between them, with Beamish going to Heineken.
All but the Irish aspect of the £7.8 million transaction were approved yesterday by the European Commission.
This follows an intervention by the Competition Authority in Dublin, which wanted to examine the Beamish deal in light of its concern that it might breach anti-trust rules.
The Competition Authority yesterday initiated a 30-day review of the deal and said any interested parties must submit their observations by April 14th.
It will have three options at the end of this review: to clear the deal; clear it with conditions; or initiate a wider examination of the potential competition implications of the deal.
While the Vintners' Federation of Ireland has expressed concern about a potential reduction in competition in the beer market if the deal goes ahead, Heineken last night said it remained committed to executing the deal in full in Ireland.
"Ireland is a very competitive and transparent branded marketplace. Pubs and off-licences will stock the brands that consumers want and that will continue if this deal were concluded," said a spokesman.
The company said it had "fully briefed" the Competition Authority on the terms of the deal and expected it to reach "a quick and satisfactory outcome" arising from the examination.
Heineken is understood to have argued that the relevant market to scrutinise is the long alcoholic drinks market, which comprises both beer and cider.
The company is understood to be arguing that it has a 17.5 per cent of that overall market in advance of the deal, with Beamish holding some 8 per cent. Their combined share would be 25.5 per cent, about half the share of Guinness owner Diageo.
"The combined entity would be half the size of the existing dominant player in terms of both market share and revenues," Heineken's spokesman said.
If cider is included, then the share of the market held by Bulmers owner C&C would have to be included.
This amounts to some 10 per cent, in Heineken's submissions, a share that surpasses that of Beamish.
In that long drinks market scenario, the Beamish deal would see the second-largest drinks producer acquire the fourth-largest player instead of the third player.
