Gleneagles – what a place for a corporate jolly. But soon no more. Diageo, the world’s number one drinks group, that is under pressure to lift sales and profits, is close to agreeing the sale of its luxury Gleneagles hotel and golf resort in Scotland, media reported on 26 June 2015.

The beer economist Germain Hansmaennel compiled the ranking of the world’s top 40 brewing groups which control 82.5 percent of global beer production.

The Lindemans brewery, famous for its fruit beers and geuzes, has seen demand for its beers rise sharply in recent years and has doubled its capacity to 170,000 hl and staff to 32. At the end of Aril 2015 the new packaging hall was officially opened.

The main areas for growing spring barley in Europe were able to start vegetation under favorable conditions. In Central Europe, yield losses due to drought can be expected, but the supply is still supposed to be good.

Now that’s desperate, that’s truly pathetic. Are the chattering classes in the financial world so anxious for a Big Deal in the brewing industry that they eagerly lap up even the most outlandish of speculations?

Novozymes has signed a deal with Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality to acquire a 140,000 square meter site in Lyngby in order to build a new campus dedicated to research and business development. The site is located 13 kilometers north of Copenhagen and seven kilometers from its headquarters in Bagsværd. As part of the campus construction, Novozymes will also establish a learning center where students and visitors alike are invited to discover and learn about nature and biology. The learning center will include teaching laboratories, a small cinema and a cafe, and will function as a link to the research environment in Lyngby.

When brewer SABMiller acquired London’s craft brewer Meantime in May 2015, they refrained from saying how much they paid. This has not stopped observers from speculating, of course.

On 2 June 2015 more than 20 public health NGOs resigned from the EU Alcohol and Health Forum, following the announcement by Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis on 22 May 2015 that he has no plans to submit a new strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm in Europe, suggesting that the issue will be tackled as part of a broad range of “risk factors” affecting chronic diseases.

He should have known better. The head of the German unit of the world’s biggest brewer AB-InBev, Till Hedrich, lost his job with immediate effect over a drink-driving incident, media reported on 2 June 2015.

Russian beer is getting crushed. The Russian beer market plunged by an estimated 9 percent in the first three months of 2015, compared to the same period last year, according to reports. Moreover, imported beers are becoming almost prohibitively expensive due to the ruble’s continuing weakness. Consumers are feeling the pinch.