The family owned brewery Beck & Co has announced that it is to be sold prompting interest from breweries around the world.

Beck's, the brewer of the popular bottled premium lager, is one of the largest exporters of beer in Germany, and is expected to raise between £600m and £900m. Early favourites to buy the brewery include Scottish & Newcastle, the largest brewer in the UK, which already has an exclusive contract to distribute Beck's, and Interbrew, the Belgian maker of Stella Artois.

Also rumoured to be interested in buying Beck's is Anheuser-Busch, the manufacturer of Budweiser. Scottish & Newcastle is seen by analysts as a strong contender, although financial obligations to Danone after the acquisition of Kronenbourg assets last year could be a stumbling block.