Bye-Bye Boddingtons?

May 4, 1999 -- The BBC reported today that Whitbread PLC, owners of the Whitbread Beer Company, is in negotiations with drinks giant Allied Domencq to buy all of Allied's 3,544 British pubs. The value of the deal is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of BP2.3 billion (US$3.71 billion).

Already owners of over 3,500 pubs, the deal would put Whitbread's licensed holdings at more than 7,000 pubs, exceeding by far the 5,000 a brewing company is allowed to own under British law. This would mean that Whitbread would be forced to sell off its brewery holdings, including the Strangeways Brewery in Manchester, where the heavily-promoted Boddingtons Bitter is made, and the Flowers Brewery of Gloucestershire. Whitbread has been in the beer business for 257 years.

But the sale is not a done deal yet. According to the BBC report, at least two other companies are said to have shown interest in the pub holdings, including Punch Taverns, owners of some 1,500 tenanted pubs,and the Unique Pub Company, which claims some 2,600 pubs and is itself a subsidiary of Nomura of Japan, also owners of the Czech breweries Pilsner Urquell and Radegast.

Speaking for British beer consumers, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has registered their disapproval of the deal, saying that it will mean decreased choice for beer drinkers.

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