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Interbrew near Bass deal?
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June 7, 2000: 6:54 a.m. ET
Reports: Belgian brewer nears $3.3B UK buy amid European consolidation
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Belgium's Interbrew is likely to agree later this month to buy the brewing interests of U.K. hotel and pub company Bass for around £2.2 billion ($3.34 billion), according to media reports published Wednesday.
A deal would follow hot on the heels of the Belgian firm's £400 million purchase in May of the brewing unit of another U.K. firm, Whitbread, and would consolidate Interbrew's position as the world's fourth-largest brewer.
Both companies declined to comment.
Interbrew has moved ahead of its smaller rival Carlsberg of Denmark in the race to acquire the Bass assets. The Belgian firm plans to go public in an initial public offering later this year.
 Bass embarked on a strategic review earlier this year and has moved towards divesting its brewing businesses in Britain and the Czech Republic. That will allow it to focus on hotel and leisure interests including the Holiday Inn and Inter-Continental brands and All Bar One, a pub chain.
Shares in Bass (BASS), Britain's second-largest brewer behind
Scottish & Newcastle (SCTN), were 0.7 percent higher at 693 pence. The company accounts for almost a quarter of the U.K. beer market through brands such as Carling, the country's best-selling beer.
The combination of Bass with Whitbread's (WTB) beer assets would give Interbrew around a third of the U.K. market, prompting speculation that regulators might intervene.
Carlsberg on Wednesday reported a 10.8 percent rise in pretax first-half earnings to 757 million Danish crowns ($97 million) for the six months ended March 31, undershooting analysts' expectations. Carlsberg shares fell more than 1 percent to 268 crowns. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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