Despite seemingly missing all the fun, Nils Smedegaard Andersen is toeing the Carlsberg family line.
He formally vacated the chief executive’s chair at the Danish brewer just a couple of weeks ago – heading off to become boss of AP Moeller-Maersk. Mr Andersen made way for Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen, who clearly has lost no time at all in putting together a potential joint break-up bid for Scottish & Newcastle with Heineken.
In an interview with Danish business daily Borsen, picked up by Reuters, the former Carlsberg man says:
We have pursued S&N for years and tried to find the right solution. I think we found the answer in this structure.
Mr Andersen is referring, of course, to the planned asset carve-up, where Carlsberg would hope to take over S&N’s 50 per cent holding in Baltic Beverages Holding, along with the British group’s interests in France and Greece, while Heineken would take S&N’s other European interests, including its substantial UK business.
It makes sense to break up S&N like this…Therefore I am sure that this will be a good cooperation.
I know of course the numbers around this whole thing, but what it will end up costing I can’t say right now. I am sure that a bid, if it happens, will be a good proposition for Carlsberg…
I think that one should relax. There has been no bid put forward yet, so it’s too early for S&N to react…If the price is interesting enough and locks in more value than they can achieve themselves, then it’s a good idea for their shareholders.
In London, despite the S&N’s frosty response to the Carlsberg/Heineken approach and widespread doubts that the Danish-Dutch bid alliance would be ready to go hostile, shares in S&N rose another 10p to 766p in early trade. That values S&N at a little over £7.2bn.