Interbrew mulling legal action over leaked SAB documents

Interbrew, the Belgian maker of Stella Artois, has raised the possibility of legal action against those responsible for the recent leak of confidential documents regarding a possible bid for South African Breweries.

Interbrew said yesterday it is undertaking a thorough investigation into the leak and had reported its findings to the London and Brussels Stock exchanges. But a spokesman said the company may take the matter further. "We want to have all our options open including the possibility of legal action," he said.

City sources say the leak could result in a police investigation.

The company is not blaming its bankers Goldman Sachs and Lazards, whose names appeared on the documents. "We don't want to make a premature statement," the spokesman said.

The comments came as Interbrew admitted that parts of the leaked documents were authentic but said other parts had been tampered with. "The falsified material appears designed to create the impression that Interbrew had considered pricing terms and would bid imminently for the shares of South African Breweries," it said.

The actual analysis suggested a nil-premium merger between two of the world's biggest brewers. But the separate "executive summary" suggested a full bid valuing SAB at £4.6bn to be launched on 3 December.

Interbrew said most of the document represented excerpts from a preliminary working document being prepared by its bankers as part of a routine annual evaluation of the world's leading brewers. It said the paper had not been presented to Interbrew's executive committee or the board of directors.

On Thursday, SAB's chief executive Graham Mackay said he was "truly astonished" at the leaking of the plans for a bid.

SAB shares rose 8p to 480p, valuing the company at £3.7bn.