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By Anjuli Davies
LONDON (Reuters) - SABMiller (L:SAB) boss Alan Clark said on Monday there was no truth in speculation the brewer's interest in buying Dutch rival Heineken (AS:HEIN) was a defensive move aimed at protecting itself from being taken over.
In his first public comments since news emerged that Heineken had rejected a bid approach from SABMiller, Clark said it was "not unusual" for his company to be in talks about a deal and that the only unusual thing about its discussions with Heineken was that they became public.
SABMiller "will continue to be assertive and search for growth," he added at an investor seminar in London.
Heineken said on Sept. 14 it had received and rejected a takeover approach from SABMiller.
The move by the maker of beers including Grolsch and Peroni was seen by analysts as a way of protecting itself from a potential takeover by global leader Anheuser-Busch InBev (BR:ABI), and sparked share price rises for all the major brewers as investors hoped to profit from another wave of industry consolidation.
SABMiller's shares have since retreated to about the level they were before the spike, amid signs that AB InBev is not planning anything imminently.
It has made no public statements about plans to make a bid, as would be required by the UK takeover panel given SABMiller's stock move, and AB InBev insiders, including its chief strategy officer, sold shares in the days immediately following the speculation. A person with knowledge of acquisitions would not be allowed to trade.
Still, speculation is swirling about SABMiller's next move, with analysts and bankers suggesting Carlsberg (CO:CARLb), Molson Coors (N:TAP) and Diageo's (L:DGE) Guinness as possible, albeit unlikely, targets.
Rumours of AB InBev's interest in SABMiller have abounded for years, since the Belgian-based company with Brazilian management made its mark with a series of astute takeovers, including the $52 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch in 2008.
(Writing by Sophie Sassard; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Mark Potter)