Carlsberg-Tetley denied it had hinted strongly to the Office of Fair Trading that it should be given the rights to the Carling lager brand as a way round the row over Interbrew's purchase of Bass Brewers.
The doors closed last week for fresh preliminary submissions to the OFT on the competition problems caused by Interbrew's £2.3bn purchase last year of Bass Brewers. The OFT was given the job of finding a solution to the alleged issues caused by one company owning almost a third of the British beer market after the High Court overturned on procedural grounds the Department of Trade's original decision that Interbrew must sell Bass's breweries to one approved buyer.
Buying Bass brought in Carling and Tennent's lagers, as well as Caffrey's, Bass and Worthington to add to Interbrew's best-selling Stella Artois brand.
After Interbrew won its judicial review of the Department of Trade's decision, the Office of Fair Trading began asking for fresh comments on the deal from brewers, pub operators and distributors. It plans to make a new recommendation to the Department of Trade and Industry next month.
Colin Povey, chief executive of Carlsberg-Tetley, declined to comment on the specific remedies his company favoured, but it is thought that Carlsberg-Tetley's submission re-emphasised the power Interbrew possesses with both Carling and Stella in its armoury in the UK.
However, the submission is rumoured to have included a clear hint that Carlsberg-Tetley would be happy to buy Carling or the UK licence to brew Stella, previously held by Whitbread, if the price was right and other conditions were met. Interbrew also bought Whitbread's breweries last year, just before the Bass deal.
Carlsberg-Tetley may be prepared to buy Interbrew's Whitbread unit in its entirety to acquire the UK rights to Stella.
It is understood Carlsberg-Tetley is opposed to a "Celtic fringe" solution, which would see Interbrew sell Caffrey's and Tennent's to reduce its dominance in the UK.
The doors closed last week for fresh preliminary submissions to the OFT on the competition problems caused by Interbrew's £2.3bn purchase last year of Bass Brewers. The OFT was given the job of finding a solution to the alleged issues caused by one company owning almost a third of the British beer market after the High Court overturned on procedural grounds the Department of Trade's original decision that Interbrew must sell Bass's breweries to one approved buyer.
Buying Bass brought in Carling and Tennent's lagers, as well as Caffrey's, Bass and Worthington to add to Interbrew's best-selling Stella Artois brand.
After Interbrew won its judicial review of the Department of Trade's decision, the Office of Fair Trading began asking for fresh comments on the deal from brewers, pub operators and distributors. It plans to make a new recommendation to the Department of Trade and Industry next month.
Colin Povey, chief executive of Carlsberg-Tetley, declined to comment on the specific remedies his company favoured, but it is thought that Carlsberg-Tetley's submission re-emphasised the power Interbrew possesses with both Carling and Stella in its armoury in the UK.
However, the submission is rumoured to have included a clear hint that Carlsberg-Tetley would be happy to buy Carling or the UK licence to brew Stella, previously held by Whitbread, if the price was right and other conditions were met. Interbrew also bought Whitbread's breweries last year, just before the Bass deal.
Carlsberg-Tetley may be prepared to buy Interbrew's Whitbread unit in its entirety to acquire the UK rights to Stella.
It is understood Carlsberg-Tetley is opposed to a "Celtic fringe" solution, which would see Interbrew sell Caffrey's and Tennent's to reduce its dominance in the UK.
