Recent News

October 2008
O´Flynn Exhams advises Beamish & Crawford plc in relation to ground breaking Competition Authority investigation of its acquisition by Heineken N.V.

In the first case of its kind, John Gaffney and Richard Neville advised Beamish & Crawford plc in relation to a six month long investigation by the Irish Competition Authority into the proposed acquisition by Heineken N.V. of Beamish & Crawford plc. The transaction formed part of the €9.9bn takeover by Heineken and Carlsberg of Scottish & Newcastle plc, the former parent company of Beamish & Crawford plc, which was cleared by the European Commission earlier this year. The Competition Authority’s review of this proposed acquisition followed a decision by the European Commission to refer the Irish aspects of the global transaction, under Article 9 of the European Merger Regulation, to the Competition Authority. This was the first such referral by the European Commission to the Competition Authority. The proposed acquisition was approved by the Authority on 3 October 2008.