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There's a slightly odd silly season letter[/url:20xq6vyq] in the Times about this today.
[quote:20xq6vyq]Heineken has been trying now for the past six months to take out the Beamish brewery and its brands.[/quote:20xq6vyq]Eh? What brands? Beamish and..?

[quote:20xq6vyq]Heineken staff, unions, customers and suppliers will soon realise also that a takeover will not only see the Beamish brewery being closed, but may well also lead to the closure of the Heineken brewery in Cork, with all production contracted out to the new Diageo brewery being built outside Dublin.[/quote:20xq6vyq]How likely is that? Why would Big Nasty Brewery No. 2 want to get Big Nasty Brewery No. 1 to make their swill? And why would Big Nasty Brewery No. 1 want to give away some of their market-flooding capacity to make a competitor's swill?

Don't make a lick of sense to me. Paranoid fantasy, anyone?

After reading that, Me thinks that Mr. O'Connell has been spending too much time in his room staring at a can of Heineken.

Or in bed with a can of Beamish... <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt="" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->

Missed this from last week, but it looks like it's game over:

[quote:2i7a9xhy]The Competition Authority, in accordance with section 22(3)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002, has formed the view that the result of the proposed acquisition by Heineken N.V. of Beamish & Crawford plc will not be to substantially lessen competition in markets for goods and services in the State and, consequently, the Authority hereby determines that the acquisition may be put into effect.[/quote:2i7a9xhy]

So. Are we about to lose a stout?

[quote:wv9bf53k]"We're very committed to and upbeat about Beamish stout and we don't envisage any change to its positioning in the market. We also plan to talk with the various franchise owners of the other brands produced or sold by Beamish, we're very anxious to keep those brands[/url:wv9bf53k]."[/quote:wv9bf53k]

anxious to keep rather then looking forward to making money off which would not fill me with hope.

&amp;quot;a_friend_in_mead&amp;quot;:16rurjnh wrote: [quote:16rurjnh]"We're very committed to and upbeat about Beamish stout and we don't envisage any change to its positioning in the market. We also plan to talk with the various franchise owners of the other brands produced or sold by Beamish, we're very anxious to keep those brands[/url:16rurjnh]."[/quote:16rurjnh]

anxious to keep rather then looking forward to making money off which would not fill me with hope.[/quote:16rurjnh]
Reading between the lines of corporate speak is filled with hazards but this bit
[quote:16rurjnh]we don't envisage any change to its positioning in the market.[/quote:16rurjnh]
would seem to suggest that the price differential and availability will continue for the time being at least. This would suggest that Beamish Stout is safe in the short term. And of course we all know that they can be taken at their word....