Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) yesterday attacked Carlsberg as being “dishonourable” and “incompetent” over attempts to launch a possible £9 billion takeover bid in partnership with Heineken.

S&N, which has dismissed the putative bid as unsolicited and unwelcome, is incensed at the actions of Carlsberg because the two companies jointly control Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH), the biggest brewer in Russia and much of the rest of the former Soviet Union.

A spokesman for S&N expressed incredulity at the way in which Carlsberg, its partner in BBH for five years, had behaved. “To tear up that partnership by phoning us five minutes before making a Stock Exchange announcement is dishonourable. It’s also incompetent. It would have been very easy to have had a proper conversation about this,” he said.

It is understood that Sir Brian Stewart, the S&N chairman, was phoned on Wednesday by Jean-François van Boxmeer, Heineken’s chief executive, and told that a statement was about to be issued. Sir Brian was then contacted by Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen, Carlsberg’s new chief executive.

The S&N spokesman accused the Danish brewer of using its proposed bid as a means of securing outright control of BBH “on the cheap . . . Carlsberg knows its true value and we know its true value as we’ve just drawn up a three-year plan for the business. They’re trying to rob value from our shareholders. We don’t want our shareholders to get mugged.”

Carlsberg and Heineken, who declined to respond to S&N’s comments, were forced to make a statement confirming their interest after a sharp rise in the Edinburgh-based brewer’s share price. They are expected to lodge a firm offer worth up to 750p a share within two weeks, which would value S&N at £7.1 billion, or about £9 billion, including its net debt of about £1.9 billion.

Yesterday, the shares fell by 3p to 764p, 20 per cent above the closing price the day before the Danish and Dutch brewers confirmed interest.

Carlsberg shares have fallen sharply amid concerns over the funding for the deal. The company is expected to raise up to £3 billion via a rights issue underwritten by Danske Bank, Nordea and Lehman Brothers, its adviser on the transaction. Its shares closed DKr17 lower at DKr693, a fall of almost 9 per cent since last week’s statement.

Under the proposed break-up, Heineken would acquire S&N’s British business and some European operations, notably in Finland and Portugal, while Carlsberg would take on its interests in France and Greece, as well as its 50 per cent stake in BBH.

The split would circumvent any potential competition issues in the UK as Heineken has just 1 per cent of the British beer market against Carlsberg’s 13 per cent and S&N’s 27 per cent.

S&N has threatened to consider “all options” to repel any bid, including seeking a white knight to make a counterbid. It is also considering the option of trying to sell all or part of its 50 per cent stake in BBH. Industry sources said that a Russian oligarch might be interested in BBH, which owns the bestselling Baltika brand.

Anheuser-Busch, the owner of Budweiser, and the London-listed SABMiller have been tipped as possible white knights, although SABMiller is likely to be more interested in BBH than S&N’s mature Western European businesses. The Miller Lite brewer is being advised by Merrill Lynch on its options over becoming involved.

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