S&N considers BBH sale to thwart bid approach: report

LONDON (Reuters) - British brewer Scottish and Newcastle (S&N) SCTN.L considers selling its Finnish holding company to block a potential joint bid from Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) and Heineken (HEIN.AS), a Sunday paper said.

Denmark's Carlsberg and Amsterdam-based Heineken announced their joint approach for the Edinburgh-based brewer last week, with Carlsberg intending to buy S&N's interest in Russia-based brewer Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH), France and Greece.

The Sunday Times said in an unsourced report that S&N is considering selling off its Finnish holding company Hartwall, which holds the group's 50 percent interest in BBH joint venture with Carlsberg.

BBH is seen as the jewel in S&N's crown as it controls over 85 percent of Baltika (PKBA.MM) the biggest brewer in the world's third largest beer market, Russia, and provides around one third of S&N and Carlsberg's group earnings.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Telegraph said in an unsourced report that S&N is considering all its defense options and looking to bring in a strategic partner, with SABMiller (SAB.L) and Anheuser-Busch (BUD.N) believed to have made contact with S&N to fend off the bid approach.

S&N was not immediately available for comment.