Concerns over the ownership of Liverpool football club may see the Carlsberg, the club's biggest sponsor, quit the group.
The brewer is "dismayed" at the split between the group's owners, according to sources close to the situation, with the £104-per year sponsorship due to be renewed in 18 months' time.
Talks over the deal are due to begin in the Spring.
"Carlsberg's view of the owners is pretty bleak," said one source.
FT weekend, page 13