Marston's PLC (LON:MARS) noted that the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared its proposed joint venture with Carlsberg.
The antitrust condition to completion has now been satisfied and the transaction will complete at the end of October, it added.
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The publican agreed to spin off its brewery business into a joint venture with the Danish beer giant last May. Marston’s will own 40% of the new project and get £273mln cash in return, valuing the brewing business at roughly £580mln, or 13 times underlying profits.
Its new Copenhagen-based partner will control the other 60% of what will be called the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, owning beer brands such as Marston’s Pedigree, Banks’s Bitter, Hobgoblin, Brakspear, Shipyard, Bombardier and Wainwright, plus Calsberg Pilsner, San Miguel, Tuborg, Holsten Pils, Tetley’s, Skol and Brooklyn.
The pair expect to generate savings from the combination of about £24mln within three years.
The deal was expected to complete in before the end of September but it was delayed after the CMA launched an investigation to see if it would stifle fair competition.
The watchdog found that Marston's pubs form only a small part of the potential UK customer base for brewers so the independent ones will still have access to pubs after the merger.
"The deal should now complete at the end of this month, resulting in an immediate cash windfall of £239mln (close to the company's market capitalisation) without any detrimental impact on the company's cash flow," analysts at Peel Hunt noted.
Shares advanced 6% to 44.02p on Friday at the opening bell.
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