BRITAIN’s biggest brewer, Scottish & Newcastle, is set to ask the Takeover Panel to force a consor-tium trying to buy it to make a formal bid or walk away.

Details of a possible joint bid for S&N by Carlsberg and Heineken, two rival beermakers, emerged in October, but so far they have yet to put a formal offer to the company’s board or its shareholders.

They have made two indicative proposals, the latest of which values S&N at 750p per share, which equates to £7.3 billion. This was rejected by the Edinburgh-based brewer as “wholly inadequate”.

S&N is losing patience and is preparing to ask the panel, which regulates bids in the UK, to intervene by issuing a so-called “put up or shut up” notice. This would set a deadline for a formal offer.

The panel would have to consult both parties before setting its deadline. Normally, if a potential bidder does not make an offer within the agreed timeframe, it may not do so for at least six months or unless another party makes a bid.

Some stock-market analysts have begun to suggest that the Scottish beer maker should open talks with its would-be bidder but S&N, led by chief executive John Dunsmore, sees no reason to do so.

The key sticking point between the two sides revolves round BBH, a joint-venture company owned 50-50 by S&N and Carlsberg which makes and sells beer in Russia and the Baltic states.

S&N, which counts Kronenbourg, Foster’s and Newcastle Brown Ale among its main brands, alleges that Carlsberg’s offer breaches the shareholder agreement governing the venture and is taking its case to arbitration. Carlsberg, headed by chief executive Jorgen Buhl Ras-mussen, has dismissed its rival’s legal claims as having no merit.

The two sides also disagree over the worth of BBH, which is the most valuable of S&N’s assets. Two S&N shareholders, Legal & General and Scottish Widows, have said they would like more financial information on BBH to be published to help them assess each side’s argument.

But the data cannot be published without the agreement of both Carlsberg and S&N. The Danes have so far declined, insisting publication would be commercially damaging.

Shares in S&N closed on Friday at 726½p, valuing the company at £6.9 billion.

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