S&N accuses Carlsberg of breaking agreement

October 31, 2007: Relations between international brewers Scottish & Newcastle and Carlsberg have taken another turn for the worse with S&N accusing the Danish firm of breaching their Baltic Beverage Holdings (BBH) agreement.

Last week S&N was the target for a joint takeover offer from Carlsberg and Heineken, but it batted off the 720p a share bid, calling it "derisory".

S&N and Carlsberg are joint 50-50 shareholders in BBH, which has 19 breweries in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Kazakhstan. S&N says that a successful Carlsberg/Heineken bid for its business would result in Carlsberg owning 100% of BBH.

Because it considers Carlsberg to be in breach of the ownership agreement S&N says it should be forced to sell its share in BBH to S&N.

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