The French agri-foodstuffs group DANONE has announced the merger of most of its beer activities with Britain's SCOTTISH AND NEWCASTLE. It will keep 25% of the new venture and will have an option to sell its share in three years. The activities concerned are the KRONENBOURG breweries in France, ALKEN MAES in Belgium and DANONE's 24% in BIRRA PERONI SPA in Italy. DANONE will keep its brewing activities in China and its 33% share in Spain's MAHOU. The new venture will rank second among Western European brewers behind the Netherlands' HEINEKEN. It will produce some 29 million hectolitres of beer and is expected to have annual turnover of nearly FRF 30 billion.