S&N buys out Caledonian Brewery

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) has bought out Caledonian Brewery, ahead of its own takeover by Heineken.

S&N acquired the Caledonian Brewery site in Edinburgh outright in 2004, as well as a 30 per cent share in the management & brand owning business, the Caledonian Brewing Company (CBC).

It has now agreed a deal for the remaining 70 per cent stake in CBC, brewer of Deuchars IPA, with Caledonian directors Sandy Orr, Donald MacDonald and Denis Critchley-Salmonson.

The deal will see the Caledonian brands pass into the hands of Dutch brewer Heineken, which is taking over S&N's UK operations as part of the £7.8bn carve-up of S&N by Heineken and Carlsberg.

Caledonian managing director Stephen Crawley spoke to the Publican this morning and said he was delighted by the deal: "As far as I see it this is a very positive thing. The deal will secure the future of the business long-term and will allow our brands to flourish. It is very exciting as it will open up the S&N Pub Enterprises estate as well as greater access to the freetrade for Deuchars."

Jeremy Blood, S&NUK managing director, said: "Over the last four years, we have built close strategic links with the Caledonian team and had already begun to unlock new opportunities for their beers with the S&N network. This final part of the acquisition will simplify matters and enable CBC to fully realise its potential as a significant producer of high quality and specialist traditional ales."

For the time being Caledonian operations, including sales and marketing functions, will continue to trade as a stand-alone business.

Negotiations to secure the full shareholding had actually been going before S&N accepted the Carlsberg/Heineken consortium bid in January. The details of the Caledonian deal were therefore was fully disclosed to the consortium during the due diligence process.