Victory - of sorts
That was quick. On 23 April Britain’s High Court ruled that the government had acted unfairly when Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers blocked Interbrew’s acquisition of Bass Brewers - a £2.3 bn (US$3.3 bn) acquisition which would have given Belgium’s Interbrew a leading 32% share of the British beer market. The judge backed the ruling in principle, but said that the procedure by which the conclusion was reached was unfair. Officially, Interbrew welcomed the decision of the High Court of Justice. After all, the world’s local brewer had taken the matter to court to demonstrate that it would not leave a ruling unchallenged which it considered unjust. Due to competition concerns, South African Breweries and venture capital groups had seemed to be the only potential candidates for Bass.
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