Robertson retires from Weir Group

to the offer from Greene King, which owns the Dunbar-based Belhaven business.

David Holohan, drinks analyst at Merrion Capital, said: “The (share price) fall seems to be due to a combination of factors: a sharp deterioration in the US business, the fact that there is no guidance for the full year (under Takeover Panel rules) and a lot of uncertainty about the strategic rationale on the Spirit bid.”

However, Glancey, explaining the rationale yesterday, said: “Our route to market capability in Ireland and Scotland is not matched in England and Wales and the concept of vertical integration in the sector is well established.”

Stockbroker Goodbody said it planned to cut its forecast for C&C’s full-year profit by around 7 per cent.

C&C’s dividend per share rises 4.7 per cent to 4.5 cents. FORMER defence secretary Lord Robertson will retire from the board of Weir Group at the end of January after 11 years as a nonexecutive director.

He will be succeeded as senior independent director by Rick Menell, a non-executive at Weir since April 2009 and a senior adviser to Credit Suisse.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald will join as a non-executive in the new year. He is principal and vice-chancellor of Strathclyde University, and former member of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee and UK Trade and Investment Energy Excellence Board.