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Carlsberg and Heineken have made a higher takeover offer for fellow brewer Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) after their initial joint approach was rejected.

In a statement today S&N's two suitors said they would pay 750p-a-share for the company, as part of an offer giving the takeover target an equity value of around £7.3 billion and an enterprise value of approximately £9.7 billion.

The latest offer for S&N comes after the Edinburgh-based company rejected a 720p-a-share bid from Carlsberg and Heineken last month, describing the approach as an "unsolicited and derisory proposal" and accusing the two firms of trying to buy its portfolio of businesses "on the cheap".

But Danish brewer Carlsberg and Dutch company Heineken stress their latest offer is "substantially in excess" of the standalone independent value of S&N – whose brands include Fosters, Kronenbourg 1664 and John Smith's.

They say the bid represents a premium of 41 per cent on S&N's closing share price on March 28th, the date immediately before speculation arose about a possible offer for the UK's largest independent brewer.

Commenting on the higher offer, Heineken chairman and chief executive Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said: "The increased proposal represents a very attractive opportunity for S&N shareholders to obtain a price which is materially higher than the standalone value of the group."

Carlsberg chief executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen added the bid represented a "full and fair price" for S&N's entire business.

Under the terms of the offer proposed, Carlsberg would acquire S&N's interest in Baltic Beverages Holdings (BBH), the joint venture in the Baltics the two companies are involved in. The company would also takeover S&N's operations in France and Greece.

Meanwhile Heineken would assume control of S&N's businesses in the UK and other European markets.

But after rejecting the consortium's initial bid last month, S&N subsequently accused Carlsberg of breaching their joint venture agreement over BBH by making the takeover approach.

S&N has now started arbitration proceedings aimed at forcing Carlsberg to surrender its stake in BBH, which controls Russia's largest beer company.