The Competition Commission of India (CCI), a government body of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India, has approved the amalgamation of Scottish & Newcastle India (SNIPL) with United Breweries (UBL).

SNIPL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heineken UK, which in turn is owned by Heineken SV, holds 3.22% shares in UBL.

After the integration, SNIPL would stand dissolved, while UBL would be the surviving entity.

UBL holds 37.38% shares and Heineken Group holds 37.38%, while the remaining 25.24% is held by others.

As per the terms of amalgamation, over 8.48 million fully paid equity shares of UBL of INR1 ($0.034) would be issued for over 32.2 million fully-paid equity shares of SNIPL of INR10 ($0.34) each.

According to UBL, the objective of the amalgamation was to consolidate Heineken Group’s shareholding in UBL, which in turn would lead to integration of Heineken Group’s presence in he country through a single entity.

CCI noted that "the aggregate of shares held by UB Group, Heineken and its shareholders in UBL, directly and or indirectly, before and after the proposed combination is not likely to give rise to any adverse competitive concern in India."

With the new deal, Heineken gained a 37.5% stake in UBL, which was previously owned by Scottish & Newcastle (S&N).

S&N’s India assets were acquired by Heineken in 2008, as part of its and Carlsberg’s carve-up of the UK-based brewer.

At present, UBL produces, packages, distributes, markets and sells beer in India and abroad, while SNIPL has no operations.

Heineken and UBL reached a deal in 2009, in which Heineken won the right to appoint three UBL’s board members, including the position of CFO.

Heineken produces Kingfisher Blue, Kingfisher Premium, Kingfisher Ultra, Kingfisher Blue, Kingfisher Strong, and Kingfisher Draught, Zingaro and Bullet among others in India.