Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) chief executive John Dunsmore today staked his corporate future on a series of pledges designed to enhance shareholder value in the face of the bid approach from the Carlsberg/Heineken-led consortium.
Dunsmore, who assumed the top job only last month, denied S&N was a company "under siege" and said that in pursuit of building shareholder value there would be "no emotional constraint" when it came to taking important decisions about the business.
If the group felt that outsourcing beer production in developed markets to the extent that it become a 'virtual brewer' in those markets, then so be it, Dunsmore said.
Announcing a further £20m-worth of costs savings in addition to the £110m announced and implemented in the last two years, Dunsmore said around 80 packaging jobs were at risk at S&N's Berkshire brewery, as it sought to transfer bottling to its Tadcaster site.
Operations director Stephen Glancey added that staff were currently being briefed on the re-location plans and those affected directly would be found alternative employment within the group where possible.
There were external pressures on the business, including rising input prices, which would be passed onto S&N customers in the form of higher product prices, while the brewer's locally-focussed portfolio approach - rather than a single international brand one - would pay dividends, he said.
Speaking as S&N announced both a third quarter trading statement and an outline of its strategy to reject Carlsberg/Heineken's advances, Dunsmore said there would be "no going back to the status quo" with regard to its Baltic Beverage Holdings (BBH) joint venture with Carlsberg.
The forthcoming arbitration procedure would see either S&N gain control of the whole of BBH, or its relinquishment of its 50 per cent share, he said, although he was confident S&N would win the argument and assume control of the eastern European business outright.
Discussions were taking place with potential partners who might take a minority stake in BBH, although Dunsmore would not be drawn on whom the group had talked to, nor when it would reveal their identities.
"My enemy's enemy is my friend," he said. "There are a lot of people out there who don't like Carlsberg and Heineken. Partners [for us] are out there."
In one of the many jibes Dunsmore aimed at Carlsberg/Heineken during his presentation the chief executive said that his mother could table a better offer for S&N's share of BBH than the proposed £3.2bn implied equity value being suggested by the consortium.
Finance director Ian McHoul said talks with shareholders had revealed a wide level of support for the group's stance.
S&N's shares were down today 14.5p at 724p.