Heineken chosen as suitor for BBAG.

(From FT Investor (Stories))

Heineken, the Dutch beer maker, has successfully wooed BBAG, the Austrian owner of the second-largest brewer in central Europe.

It is thought that a statement detailing a partnership or some form of sale or investment could be made as early as Friday. Heineken is understood to have been chosen after expressions of interest from a number of brewers.

BBAG is one of the most significant European brewers to remain independent of the biggest beer multinationals. It controls Brau Union, whose brands include Gosser, Zipfer and Kaiser.

Brau Union is the biggest brewer in Austria, its most important market by sales value and profit. It also has a major presence in Romania, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

BBAG said in January that it had invited companies to submit partnership proposals and admitted that this could lead to a takeover: "We would in principle not exclude a different shareholder structure, including the possibility of a change in ownership."

However, it stressed at the time that it did not want its Austrian identity to disappear in any transaction. BBAG is due to make full-year presentations to analysts and press today in Vienna. ...