Anheuser-Busch Joins Bid for Russian Brewer
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Anheuser-Busch Cos., the maker of Budweiser beer, has offered to join Scottish & Newcastle Plc’s bid for Russian brewer Baltic Beverages Holding, the Sunday Telegraph reported, without saying where it got the information. Buyout firms Blackstone Group LP and TPG Inc. have also approached Scottish & Newcastle, the paper said.
Scottish & Newcastle is seeking to increase its stake in the biggest Russian beermaker to bolster its defense against an unsolicited bid from Heineken NV and Carlsberg A/S, according to the report. Scottish & Newcastle plans to finance the bid for Baltic Beverages by offering a 25% stake to a minority partner. The company already owns half of Baltic Beverages. A full offer would value the Russian brewer at $9 billion.
Scottish & Newcastle turned down a 7.6 billion-pound takeover approach from Amsterdam-based Heineken and Carlsberg, based in Copenhagen.
