C&C Group's agreement to acquire Gaymer Cider Co has doubled the group's UK cider volumes overnight and subdued claims that the company is a one-trick pony.

C&C Group has agreed to acquire Constellation Brands' UK cider division, The Gaymer Cider Co, for GBP45m (US$75m) in cash.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has declined to comment on reports out of Germany claiming that it came close to selling off the Beck's beer brand.

The head of Heineken has predicted that consolidation will continue in the global brewing industry going forward, and that the company "will participate".

Diageo is to launch Guinness in Angola after signing a deal with Unicer, the Portguese drinks importer to the African country.

The European Commission will spend around EUR3m (US$4.5m) on promoting sales outside the European Union (EU) of French spirits, Italian and Portuguese wines over the next three years.

The Coca-Cola Co is readying its Burn energy drink brand for the Indian market, according to sources.

French wine exports for the first nine months of 2009 fell 11% in volume and 24% in value, according to the latest quarterly figures from industry body Fédération des Exportateurs de Vins et Spiritueux (FEVS).

Anheuser-Busch InBev's planned divestment of its brewing assets in Eastern Europe to private equity group CVC Capital Partners has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission.

Baltika Breweries' Eve

The joint administrators of First Quench have announced a further wave of store closures, resulting in 2,140 more redundancies.

Alcoholic drinks firms are hoping to avoid a global call for "extreme" legislation to tackle alcohol abuse by outlining the ways industry can help to tackle the problem.

Britvic, the UK's biggest soft drinks group, set tongues wagging this week following news that it plans to raise US$250m in a private placement, leading analysts to believe the J2O maker is almost certainly on the acquisition trail.

just-drinks has just returned from a night at Aspall Cyder, where we discovered an intriguing new twist on the apple-based drink.

Thousands of winemakers have protested in the streets of southern France against low prices paid for their wines.

The top ten stories published on just-drinks this week:

The UK drinks industry will have to take a hit on pricing sooner or later, despite this week's reprieve in Scotland.

The world is drinking less wine because of the recessionary environment in major importing countries, according to the International Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV).

Views on minimum pricing, off-sales discounts and raising the alcohol sales age to 21, have been called for by the Scottish Health and Sport Committee.