As predicted here, ABInBev, the world's biggest brewer, has disposed of Tennent's in Scotland, including the Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow and Scotland's biggest lager brand. The group's desperation to raise cash has seen Tennent's sold to the unlikely ownership of the Irish Magners cider producer, C&C;, for £180 million.
The deal incldues the historic Wellpark brewery -- believed to be first British brewery to make lager in the 19th century, and the rights to Tennent's beers and assets in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
As part of the deal, ABInBev will appoint C&C; as distributor of certain brands in Scotland and Ireland. In return, C&C; will grant ABInBev the right to use the Tennent's Super and Tennent's Pilsner brands in certain world-wide localities.
The sale of Tennent's at what looks a knockdown price underscores the enormous cost of the merger last year of InBev with Anheuser-Busch, brewer of American Budweiser. The group has already announced that it will close the historic Stag Brewery at Morlake in London, where Budweiser is currently brewed.