Insatiable pub group Greene King has offered £187m for Scotland's largest managed and tenanted pub company, Belhaven.
Belhaven chief executive Stuart Ross denied the company had been in talks with Greene King when rumours of a deal surfaced earlier this year.
But the Scottish pub company's bullish financial performance - including 15 years of uninterrupted growth and turnover up 20.5% to £114.44m in figures released this year - proved too tempting for acquisition-hungry Greene King.
Ross said: "The cash offer reflects the quality of our business, and our board unanimously recommends it to shareholders."
However, consumer group the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), which opposed Greene King in its summer purchase of Essex pub operator and brewer Ridley's, has urged the Scottish company's shareholders to reject the deal.
Camra Scottish director Ken Davie said it would be a disaster to lose Scotland's last independent brewer. "While we welcome Greene King's intention to keep the brewery open, the loss of Belhaven as an independent company is a bitter blow to consumer choice and competition in Scotland," he said.
Greene King raised £47m through a share placing to fund the deal.