The High Court decision to give Murphy Brewery and three wholesalers leave to challenge the Guinness acquisition of UBH could delay the takeover for months if it does not succeed in totally derailing it.

The Competition Authority decided to give Guinness the go-ahead for the buy-out despite objections from three different sectors of the drinks industry - brewers, distillers and wholesalers.

They questioned why the authority approved the Guinness takeover of the largest distributor in the State just months after it had been forced by the EU Commission's competition concerns to dispose of its stake in Cantrell & Cochrane following its merger with Grand Met to form Diageo.

Mr Patrick Cooney, managing director of Dublin-based wholesaler M J Gleeson, one of the parties in court yesterday, criticised the Competition Authority's ruling as "an appalling decision". He said it would result in Guinness, which has control of some 75 per cent of the drinks brands in the State, gaining control of 40 per cent of distribution as well.

"Its impact depends on what Guinness does in the future but Guinness is a commercial organisation. It will have its own national distribution organisation, it will not need my services," he said.

If the Guinness-UBH link-up is perceived as a threat by wholesalers, it is no less a worry for companies like Cork-based Murphy which faces the prospect of its route to the market being controlled by arch rival Guinness.

"Murphy's single biggest customer is UBH and that will now be owned by its biggest competitor," said one industry source.

A Guinness spokesman declined to comment last night on the High Court action.