American brewer Coors has emerged as the surprise victor in the battle for Carling, Britain's best selling beer, in a £1.2bn deal.
Few expected Coors to win the fiercely contested auction.
The brewer has now been catapulted into second place in the British beer market. It will control the Worthington and Caffrey brands and the UK rights to Dutch lager Grolsch and give Coors around 18 per cent of the market.
Despite the victory, the City is yet to be convinced of the merits of the deals. Shares in Coors, already down one third last year (2001), fell a further five per cent when the deal was announced.
Coors, which has a market value of around $1.9bn, is best known for its Light brand. It has a presence in about 30 countries worldwide.
Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, Interbrews financial advisors received five bids for Carling, the brand the Belgian brewer had been forced to sell by the British government.
Coors beat off stiff competition from Dutch giant Heineken, a consortium headed up by Canada's Molson, and two private-equity bidders - Apax Partners and a joint bid from CVC Capital Partners and Cinven.
Another potential buyer, Constellation Brands, the US business that owns UK drinks distributor Matthew Clark, failed to submit an offer.
The sale followed Interbrew's £2.3bn purchase of Bass Brewers in August 2000.
Related stories:
Constellation tops offers for Carling (29 November 2001)
Carling buyers set for auction (30 October 2001)
World's brewing giants to fight it out for Carling (20 September 2001)
Decision made on Interbrew's takeover of Bass Brewers (18 September 2001)
Decision on Interbrew's ownership of Bass Brewers delayed (17 September 2001)
Heineken "to make play for Carling" (10 September 2001)
Government to decide on OFT report on Interbrew (10 August 2001)
Government to decide future of Bass Brewers (5 July 2001)
Carling set to be casualty from Bass sale (11 December 2000)