'Independent' offered deal over leaked papers

The Belgian brewer Interbrew has offered to give up its legal action to force The Independent to hand over a confidential document concerning a proposal for a takeover bid.

But the company said that in the case of the four other media groups facing contempt of court proceedings it would only drop the action if their documents were surrendered to the Financial Services Authority.

Yesterday, solicitors for Interbrew indicated that no such condition applied to the offer made to The Independent, which has always maintained that it had promised its source confidentiality and handing over the document could lead to their identification.

In the letter from Interbrew's lawyers received by The Independent yesterday, the company said it was "mindful of the principle which the defendants believe is involved in the delivery of the document".

Simon Kelner, Editor-in-Chief of The Independent, said: "We are glad that Interbrew has put forward a proposal that could end this impasse, and pleased that they have recognised that there is a fundamental journalist principle at stake in this matter."

The apparently doctored document referred to a possible takeover of South African Breweries by Interbrew.

The Independent, The Financial Times, The Times and The Guardian and Reuters news agency all refused to comply with a court order to release the documents when solicitors instructed by Interbrew visited their offices last week.