HEINEKEN, which owns former Scottish & Newcastle brands Strongbow and Kronenbourg 1664, has rebuffed a takeover approach from SABMiller.
The brewer of Pilsner Urquell, Grolsch and Peroni Nastro Azzurro has been told that Heineken's founding family are determined to keep the Dutch firm's independent status.
The move by SABMiller, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the second largest brewer in the world, is being seen as a pre-emptive measure in order to prevent itself from becoming a takeover target for Stella Artois maker AB InBev.
Yesterday it was reported that AB InBev, the world's largest brewer, is consulting a number of banks and advisers around its financing options on what could be a £75 billion bid.
Heineken's UK business employs around 2,000 people at eight sites, including breweries or cider plants at Edinburgh, Livingston, Tadcaster, Manchester, London, Hereford and Ledbury.
Heineken's controlling shareholders are the De-Carvalho family with a 50.1 per cent stake in the Amsterdam-based business.
The company is worth around £27bn, compared with £55bn for SABMiller.
The Dutch firm said SABMiller's proposal was "non-actionable".
In 2002, South Africa's SAB acquired the Miller Brewing Company, the second largest brewer in the United States.
In 2007 it acquired Grolsch and a year later combined Miller Brewing Company with the US business of Molson Coors to create its MillerCoors joint venture. In 2011 it acquired the Foster's Group in Australia.
The company currently employs 70,000 people in more than 80 countries and is also one of the world's largest bottlers of Coca-Cola drinks.
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