UK: Greene King purchases its Scottish rival Belhaven

The UK�s Greene King Brewer said on August 22 that it agreed to buy its rival from Scotland -Belhaven for 187 million pounds. "It is a unique opportunity for us to gain immediate scale in the important Scottish market," Rooney Anand, stated Chief Executive of Greene King, according to Associated Press.

The 625-pence-per-share offer, for the entire issued capital of the company, represents a 15.6 percent premium to Belhaven's closing price on Friday, and will be partly funded through a share placement to raise 47 million pounds, it added. The deal will add Belhaven's 200 tenanted pubs and 100 managed pubs to Greene King's estate of 2,064.

The Synergies expected to be generated in the first year of about 3 million pounds, rise to 5 million pounds over the next two years, said Greene King. "Belhaven will retain everything at the heart of its success, including its name, its brands, and its brewery, but will also benefit from being part of a larger group opening up new markets for its products," Anand stressed.