Old Spanish Hen? Estrella owner buys Greene King ale brand

Pub chain Greene King has agreed to sell its Old Speckled Hen ale brands to the Spanish owner of Estrella lager, making it the latest in a series of British beers to be snapped up by overseas buyers. Barcelona-based brewer Damm has agreed to buy all the Old Speckled Hen lines, including its non-alcoholic and golden ale versions. Greene King said it would continue to brew the ale at its Westgate site in Bury St Edmunds during the sale “handover period”, but that the process would later move to Damm’s brewery in Bedford, which it opened last year. Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of the 227-year-old pub chain, said the company was “delighted to have secured a partner in Estrella Damm who will continue to brew the ales in the UK”. The companies did not disclose the value of the sale, but said after the deal is complete, Old Speckled Hen beers will still be available in Greene King pubs, as well as major supermarkets in the UK and in the off-trade. Greene King said it planned to focus on selling its beers in its own pubs and UK on trade, moving away from the off trade. Old Speckled Hen was bought by Greene King from the Oxfordshire-based Morland Brewery in 1999. Morland had first brewed it in 1979 to mark the MG Car Company’s 50th anniversary of its move from Oxford to Abingdon. The business had asked Morland to brew a commemorative beer for the occasion, naming it “Old Speckled Hen” after their MG Featherlight Saloon, which they referred to as the “owld speckl’d un” because of its mottled appearance. Its sale to Damm makes it the latest in a line of British beer brands to be bought by a foreign drinks group. In 2015, Camden Town Brewery agreed to a takeover by AB InBev, the Belgian company behind Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s, in a deal worth about £85m. That year, SAB Miller, the drinks group which brewed Peroni and Miller, also agreed to buy London’s Meantime Brewing Company. AB InBev later bought SAB Miller. In 2019, the British pub chain Fuller, Smith & Turner accepted a £250m offer for its entire drinks business from the Japanese beer group Asahi, including its flagship London Pride ale. This year, the US drinks company Molson Coors said it would shut down the Cornish brewery that makes Doom Bar ale. The company, which bought Sharp’s Brewery in Rock 15 years ago, said it was “no longer financially sustainable” and would close the site by the end of this year. Molson Coors is also behind the Madrí Excepcional beer, which it markets as “the soul of Madrid”, although the beer is brewed in Tadcaster, Yorkshire. The boss of Estrella Damm, which is headquartered in Barcelona and is family controlled, told the Sunday Times that Madrí had “no heritage whatsoever”. Demetrio Carceller Arce, the billionaire who inherited the business from his father, told the paper last year: “One hundred percent respect for the idea of coming up with Madrid, without a D at the end, which is fantastic. [But] Madrí is a brand that is created. There is no heritage whatsoever. We have a superior product.” There are several popular Spanish beers sold in the UK that are brewed within the country, including San Miguel, which is made by AB InBev in Northampton, as well as Cruzcampo, which is brewed by Heineken in Manchester. Luke White, the managing director of Damm UK, said: “Old Speckled Hen is an iconic British ale brand with a rich heritage and loyal following … The brand not only complements the current portfolio range by adding another category to our offering but it also reconnects the Damm Eagle Brewery to its historic British beer and ale production roots.”