BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European regulators say they've partially approved Heineken's bid for the assets of brewer Scottish & Newcastle in Britain, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.
The European Commission says competition concerns in Ireland prevented it from approving the sale of S&N's assets there, notably Beamish & Crawford, to the Dutch brewer.
The commission said in a ruling Thursday that it referred its concerns to Irish authorities for a final review.
Amsterdam-based Heineken NV has a deal with Denmark's Carlsberg A/S whereby Heineken would take control of S&N's British, American, Indian operations among others, while Carlsberg gains sole ownership of Baltic Beverages and S&N's French, Greek and Chinese operations.
