Newcastle goes to the dogs

Brewing conglomerate Scottish & Newcastle might soon be better known as Russian & Amsterdam. Its board has agreed in principle for the company to be purchased and split between brewers Carlsberg and Heineken for 15.3 billion dollars. The sale awaits a vote by stockholders and approval from the European Commission.

Carlsberg gets the Russian properties while Heineken gets the British operations. A list of many of the brands involved: here.

Beer writer Pete Brown penned a sardonic obit:

It does mean that the likes of Greene King, Fuller's, Wells & Youngs and Marston's are now the largest British brewers. I quite like that.

The on-line BBC has a history of the brewery.