HEINEKEN IRELAND is to carry out a full review of Beamish and Crawford's operations in Cork city amid concerns that the acquisition of the South Main Street brewery by the Dutch beer giant could lead to job losses.
Heineken Ireland corporate affairs manager Declan Farmer said the company had not had "any visibility" of the Beamish and Crawford operation as the brewery had operated independently while the takeover was being reviewed by the Competition Authority.
Heineken's purchase of Beamish and Crawford was approved by the authority last week. "We appreciate there is a lot of uncertainty but we still have not had the opportunity to visit the site. That's why we're engaging with management and staff at Beamish and Crawford as a matter of urgency," Mr Farmer told The Irish Times.
"We want to gain some insight into the operation of the Beamish and Crawford brewery with a view to charting an integration strategy on how best we can merge both breweries." Heineken Ireland employs some 420 people at its brewery at Leitrim Street in Cork while Beamish and Crawford employ about 200 at its breweries on South Main Street.
Staff at Beamish and Crawford fear Heineken's acquisition of the brewery will lead to rationalisation and job losses at the Beamish plant.
Mr Farmer said it was impossible to say what would happen pending a review by Heineken of the Beamish operation and he was unable to give a date for completion of that review. However, he stressed that Heineken was "very committed to Beamish's brand portfolio."
"We're very committed to and upbeat about Beamish stout and we don't envisage any change to its positioning in the market. We also plan to talk with the various franchise owners of the other brands produced or sold by Beamish, we're very anxious to keep those brands."
In addition to Beamish Genuine Irish Stout and Beamish Red Irish Ale, Beamish and Crawford's portfolio of brands includes Miller Genuine Draft, Fosters, San Miguel, Kronenbourg 1664 and Carling.
"We're very positive about keeping those brands and marketing them and investing in them - we believe that they complement strongly our own brands of Heineken, Murphy's, Amstel and Coors Light," said Mr Farmer.
The decision by the Competition Authority to approve Heineken's takeover of Beamish and Crawford came following a detailed review lasting several months after the matter was referred to it by EU competition regulatory authorities.
The acquisition of Beamish by Heineken was part of an international deal worth €10 billion which saw Beamish's parent company, Scottish Newcastle (SN), taken over jointly by Heineken and Carlsberg, with Heineken getting SN's British and Irish breweries.
The European Commission Directorate General for Competition expressed concern in a preliminary assessment about the Irish part of the deal last April and referred it to the Competition Authority for consideration.
Vintners had voiced concern the takeover would lead to a reduction in competition and the creation of a duopoly between Heineken and Diageo, which owns Guinness.
But the Competition Authority ruled last Friday that the takeover of Beamish "will not substantially lessen competition".
