Greene King Sells Old Speckled Hen Brand Sale to Damm

Greene King’s old speckled hen brand sale hands the ale lines to Barcelona-based brewer Damm, shifting ownership of one of Britain’s best-known beers while keeping production in the UK during the handover. The deal covers all Old Speckled Hen lines, including non-alcoholic and golden ale versions.

Nick Mackenzie, Greene King’s chief executive, said the company was delighted to have secured a partner in Estrella Damm who will continue to brew the ales in the UK. Greene King said it would keep brewing at its Westgate site in Bury St Edmunds during the sale handover period before production later moves to Damm’s brewery in Bedford.

Bedford keeps the beer in Britain

Damm opened its Bedford brewery last year, giving the Spanish group a UK base for the brand once the transfer is complete. After that point, Old Speckled Hen beers will still be available in Greene King pubs, major supermarkets in the UK and in the off-trade, so the label is not leaving British shelves.

The deal does not disclose a sale value, which leaves the price tag off the table even as the ownership change becomes clear. Greene King has also said it plans to focus on selling its beers in its own pubs and UK on trade, moving away from the off-trade.

1999 to Damm's purchase

Old Speckled Hen has changed hands before. Greene King bought it from the Oxfordshire-based Morland Brewery in 1999, after Morland first brewed it in 1979 to mark the MG Car Company’s 50th anniversary of its move from Oxford to Abingdon.

The beer’s name traces back to the MG Featherlight Saloon, called the owld speckl’d un because of its mottled appearance. That history now sits under a foreign owner, making Old Speckled Hen the latest in a line of British beer brands bought by an overseas drinks group.

British beer deals since 2015

2015 brought a wave of comparable deals, including Camden Town Brewery’s agreed takeover by AB InBev for about £85m and SAB Miller’s agreement to buy London’s Meantime Brewing Company. In 2019, Fuller, Smith & Turner accepted a £250m offer for its entire drinks business from Asahi.

This year Molson Coors said it would shut down the Cornish brewery that makes Doom Bar ale, saying the site was no longer financially sustainable and would close by the end of this year. The backdrop is a market where heritage branding still draws buyers, even when production footprints and ownership structures keep shifting.