Heineken and Carlsberg have made two “indicative proposals” but no formal bid yet for Scottish & Newcastle (S&N). Having lost patience, S&N has asked the Takeover Panel to set a deadline for a formal bid, which has been scheduled for 21 January.

Ball Corporation announced today that its European subsidiary, Ball Packaging Europe, plans to build a beverage can manufacturing plant in India. The facility, which is expected to be located near Aurangabad in the state of Maharashtra, will be positioned strategically to supply the two-piece beverage can needs for the majority of existing and currently planned beverage can filling lines in India. Application procedures with the proper governmental agencies are in the process of being completed, and the first commercial cans are expected to be produced by mid-2009.

A rail strike and a blizzard marked the start of BRAU Beviale 2007 in Nuremberg (14 to 16 November), but this did not deter the 34,500 or so trade visitors (2006: 36,260) from attending this year’s most important international capital goods exhibition for the beverage industry.

Early in 2008, the first solar thermics system from Krones will go on line at the privately owned Hofmühl Brewery in Eichstätt

Thanks to the summer that never was, the UK’s top beer brands are counting the cost of a year with no major football tournament.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a “co-ordinated” approach from alcohol producers and the alcohol trade to tackle binge and underage drinking.

Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of the Campari Group said that “in the first nine months of 2007 we achieved satisfactory results.”

Beer travellers have always known that Franconia is the place with the highest number of breweries in Europe.

After the turmoil of the past few months, Doemens’ new board will have to bring the prestigious German brewing school back on track.

Punch Taverns, Britain’s biggest pub company, was rumoured to be in the early stages of considering an audacious GBP 5 billion-plus bid for Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), the owner of the All Bar One and Harvester chains.