On 3 April 2008, the Commission decided not to oppose the above notified concentration between Heineken and some Scottish & Newcastle assets. The Ec also declared the merger to be compatible with the common market.

The European Commission approved on Thursday the purchase of Scottish and Newcastle's businesses in Belgium, Britain, Finland and Portugal by the giant Dutch brewer Heineken. However, it referred Heineken's purchase of Scottish and Newcastle's assets in Ireland to competition authorities in the country following a request from them to review the deal.

Although Europe's top antitrust watchdog saw no threat from the deal to competition in Belgium, Britain, Finland and Portugal, the commission said there was a risk in Ireland.

Scottish and Newcastle accepted in January a 7.8 billion pound (9.9 billion euro, 15.5 billion dollar) takeover bid by Carlsberg of Denmark and Heineken of the Netherlands.

Under the deal, Carlsberg and Heineken are to split the Scottish and Newcastle's assets between them. Carlsberg will take Scottish and Newcastle's half of their joint Russian venture Baltic Beverages Holding, which makes Russia's Baltika beer, and its Chinese, French, Greek and Vietnamese operations.

Heineken, meanwhile, will take the businesses in:

• Belgium
• Britain
• Finland
• India
• Ireland
• Portugal
• the United States.