Old Speckled Hen ale has been owned by Greene King since 1999. Photograph: Graham Turner/The Guardian
Pub owners sale to Barcelona-based brewer Damm is latest takeover of a British beer by an overseas buyer

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 Damms 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 Companys 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 speckld 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 Becks, in a deal worth about 0585m.

That year, SAB Miller, the drinks group which brewed Peroni and Miller, also agreed to buy Londons Meantime Brewing Company. AB InBev later bought SAB Miller.

In 2019, the British pub chain Fuller, Smith & Turner accepted a 05250m 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 Sharps 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 Madr 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 Madr 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] Madr 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.

酒吧老板将业务出售给巴塞罗那啤酒商达姆（Damm），这是英国啤酒品牌又一次被海外买家收购的最新案例。

英国酒吧连锁格林王（Greene King）已同意将其"老斑点母鸡"（Old Speckled Hen）麦芽啤酒品牌出售给西班牙埃斯特拉（Estrella）啤酒的所有者，这标志着又一款英国啤酒品牌被海外买家收入囊中。

总部位于巴塞罗那的达姆啤酒公司已同意收购Old Speckled Hen全系列产品线，包括其无酒精版和金色艾尔版本。

格林王啤酒公司表示，在出售及交接期间，将继续在伯里圣埃德蒙兹的韦斯特盖特工厂酿造啤酒，但后续生产将转移至去年在贝德福德开设的达姆啤酒厂。

这家拥有227年历史的酒吧连锁集团首席执行官尼克·麦肯齐（Nick Mackenzie）表示，公司“很高兴能与埃斯特雷拉·达姆（Estrella Damm）达成合作，该合作伙伴将继续在英国酿造啤酒”。

相关公司未披露此次交易的具体金额，但表示交易完成后，老斑点母鸡啤酒仍将在格林王酒吧、英国各大超市及非即饮渠道销售。

格林王啤酒公司表示，计划将重心转向自有酒吧及英国境内贸易渠道的啤酒销售，逐步退出非贸易渠道市场。

1999年，格林王啤酒公司从牛津郡的莫兰德啤酒厂收购了"老斑点母鸡"啤酒。该啤酒最初由莫兰德于1979年酿造，旨在纪念MG汽车公司从牛津迁至阿宾顿50周年。

该企业委托莫兰啤酒厂为此次活动酿造一款纪念啤酒，并以他们的MG Featherlight Saloon轿车为灵感将其命名为“老斑鸠”——由于这辆轿车斑驳的外观，他们常亲切地称之为“斑点老家伙”。

达姆公司对其的收购，使其成为最新一家被外国饮料集团收购的英国啤酒品牌。

2015年，卡姆登镇啤酒厂同意被百威英博（AB InBev）收购，交易价值约8500万英镑。百威英博是一家比利时公司，旗下拥有百威（Budweiser）、时代（Stella Artois）和贝克（Beck’s）等啤酒品牌。

同年，旗下拥有佩罗尼（Peroni）和米勒（Miller）等品牌的饮料集团SAB米勒（SAB Miller）也同意收购伦敦的米恩泰姆啤酒公司（Meantime Brewing Company）。此后，百威英博（AB InBev）收购了SAB米勒。

2019年，英国酒吧连锁集团富勒史密斯特纳（Fuller, Smith & Turner）接受了日本朝日啤酒集团（Asahi）对其整个饮料业务2.5亿英镑的收购要约，其中包括其旗舰产品伦敦骄傲啤酒（London Pride ale）。

今年，美国饮料公司摩森康胜宣布将关闭生产杜姆巴啤酒的康沃尔酒厂。该公司15年前收购了位于罗克的夏普啤酒厂，称其"财务上已无法持续运营"，计划于年底前关闭该厂。

莫尔森库尔斯公司还推出了马德里特酿啤酒（Madrí Excepcional），并将其宣传为“马德里的灵魂”，尽管这款啤酒实际产自约克郡的塔德卡斯特。

总部位于巴塞罗那的家族企业埃斯特雷拉·达姆（Estrella Damm）的老板向《星期日泰晤士报》表示，马德里“毫无历史底蕴可言”。

从父亲手中继承企业的亿万富翁德梅特里奥·卡塞列尔·阿尔塞去年向该报表示："对去掉词尾字母D、创造‘Madr’这个名称的构想，我百分百尊重，这很棒。[但]‘Madr’是一个被创造出来的品牌，没有任何历史传承。我们的产品才更胜一筹。"

英国市场上有几款广受欢迎的西班牙啤酒实际上是在本土酿造的，包括由百威英博集团在北安普顿生产的**圣米格尔**（San Miguel），以及喜力啤酒在曼彻斯特酿造的**克鲁兹坎波**（Cruzcampo）。

达姆英国公司董事总经理卢克·怀特表示：“‘老斑点母鸡’是一个具有深厚历史底蕴和忠实拥趸的标志性英国艾尔啤酒品牌。该品牌不仅通过新增品类丰富了我们现有的产品组合，更让达姆鹰啤酒厂重新与其历史上的英国啤酒及艾尔酿造传统建立了联系。”