U.S. beverage company Constellation Brands has emerged as the highest bidder for Britain's leading lager Carling, according to reports, FTMarketWatch comments this week. The owner of Matthew Clark, the drinks distributor which owns brands like Diamond White and Babycham in the UK, has offered £1.35bn to make it the leading bidder in the auction for Interbrew-owned Carling, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The bid beats offers from more high profile contenders Heineken and Coor'sof the U.S. and sets Constellation against three private equity groups in the closing stages of the auction, the report said. Interbrew is hoping the auction, which is being organised by Goldman Sachs will be completed by the end of the year, the paper said. The Belgian owner of Stella Artois, Rolling Rock and Labatts was ordered to sell Bass Breweries which makes Carling, by the UK government in January of this year because it did not want Scottish & Newcastle and Interbrew to control the UK beer market.
