'Pressure mounting on Scottish & Newcastle board to open up books to Carlsberg'

Pressure on Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) board will mount this week as shareholders join forces to persuade chief executive John Dunsmore to talk with Carlsberg and Heineken about their 780p-a share takeover proposal. Both Dunsmore and Carlsberg boss Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen told Financial Mail they would not budge from their current positions, each suggesting the other should make the first move. Rasmussen said: "I congratulate John. He has pushed us to the very edge, but our pockets are empty." But shareholders in S&N, who have spoken to Carlsberg about the bid, said they were frustrated that Dunsmore had not agreed to open the books, even after the proposal was raised by 30p. - Mail On Sunday​

S&N has been approached by Anheuser-Busch, the US brewer of Budweiser, and private equity funds Blackstone and Texas Pacific Group about a potential £4.6bn bid for full control of BBH, the top Russian brewer jointly owned by S&N and Carlsberg. But the Edinburgh-based brewer is preparing a bid for full control of BBH as part of its defence against Carlsberg, which is plotting its own £10bn takeover bid for S&N as part of a consortium with Heineken. Meanwhile Carlsberg and Heineken will this week come under renewed pressure to raise their proposed offer for S&N from 780p a share to 800p, the level at which S&N has said it would discuss a deal. Gloomy trading statements expected this week from two of Britain's biggest pub chains, Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns, could put pressure on S&N to enter talks with the consortium. But while sales of beer in pubs are down, supermarket sales are strong and cider volumes are rising. - Sunday Telegraph​

Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, chief executive of Heineken, told the Sunday Herald: "We have made an offer. Which is a very good one. It is a full cash offer and it is on the table, so that we can come in and do our due diligence ..."We are speaking about very large numbers here. We have made a full offer which we think is very good in the current economic environment. If we offered 800p a share which S&N is demanding before talks can open we must find an extra £200 million - so we have to be careful for our shareholders." With Carlsberg and Heineken having until January 21 to make a final offer for S&N under Takeover Panel rules, some will see this as posturing ahead of a final increase, possibly as early as this week. - Sunday Herald​

Russians' love of vodka shows no sign of abating but over the past few years soaring beer sales suggest old and young alike have turned their attention elsewhere. Beer consumption has risen from 20 litres per person a year to nearly 80 litres and while growth appears to be slowing that is from sky-high levels. Driving much of that growth is Baltic Beverages Holding, the Russian beer business that has gained notoriety in recent weeks thanks to its position at the centre of the takeover battle for Scottish & Newcastle. - Sunday Telegraph​

For the first time in living memory, sales of beer are increasing while those of lager are on the wane - at least in Britain's supermarkets. New figures show that last year sales of ale in UK supermarkets grew by 6.6 per cent while sales of lager slipped by 0.2 per cent. Although total lager sales in supermarkets outnumber those of beer by around five to one, the big retailers are now waking up to how consumer tastes are rapidly changing. Tesco has increased its selection of ales from 50 to 200 while Marks & Spencer recently launched a range of conditioned beers. - Observer​

Half a million people are being admitted to hospital each year after drinking too much, new figures have revealed. English hospitals are now treating more than 1,200 people every day for alcohol-related conditions, data from the Department of Health showed. The number of people put in hospital by drink has more than doubled in 10 years, adding to pressure for Gordon Brown to act on Britain's culture of binge drinking. - Sunday Telegraph​

Reducing the drink-driving limit to less than a pint of beer will have no impact on road deaths but will criminalise decent people and rip the social fabric of rural Ireland apart, a coroner believes. Dr John Madden, coroner for Donegal North-East, says that a far more effective way of reducing road deaths is to further increase random breath-testing so drivers would expect to be breathalysed a number of times each year. "This would weed out who drive three or four times over the limit. They are the people who cause fatal traffic accidents," he said. - Irish Independent​