Heineken to become market leader with 4,500 British pubs?

Dutch brewery company Heineken is considering a bid for Punch Taverns, which is the British market leader with about 3,300 pubs in the United Kingdom. The Dutch company itself already have 1,100 pubs of their own across the Channel.

Industry organizations worried

A Punch Taverns acquisition would give Heineken a strong grasp on the market and several industry organizations have already expressed their worries about the possible purchase. They feel Heineken’s power would become too great, leading to a simplified product range for the consumer.

It is still not sure whether Heineken will be able to buy the pubs: it still needs to file a formal bid and it also faces competition from Alan McIntosh’ investment firm Emerald. He was the man who co-founded Punch Taverns in 1997 and worked for the company until 2002 as its CFO.

Punch Taverns is currently talking to both companies and they both still have until 11 January to lodge an official bid.