£20 million cost saving plan for Scottish & Newcastle

Scottish & Newcastle, the Edinburgh-based brewer, is currently defending itself from a takeover bid from European brewers Carlsberg and Heineken and has announced plans to make the company ‘leaner, tougher and faster’.

S&N also announced that it is confident about its outlook and plans to cut costs by £20 million a year. The company has agreed to sell a large proportion of its French trade distribution business for £85 million.

S&N is the sixth largest brewer in the world and is the country’s last big independent brewer and has been a takeover target for many years.

S&N’s chief executive, John Dunsmore, said nothing is sacred. I passionately believe that Scottish & Newcastle will deliver value to its shareholders that justifies our response to the consortium proposal.

Carlsberg and Heineken raised its proposed bid to 750p a share from the original offer of 720p but S&N rejected the move and accused the two firms of trying to buy it on the cheap. Carlsberg and Heineken attacked S&N’s rejection of the improved offer as ‘ill-informed’.

As well as Kronenbourg 1664, S&N’s well-known brands are Strongbow, which makes up for more than 3 in every 5 pints of cider sold in the UK and Australian lager, Foster’s, and Britain’s number one ale brand, John Smith’s.

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