The Vijay Mallya-promoted UB group has started examining the books of the Scotland-based Whyte & Mackay as a precursor to acquiring the foreign company for the reported pound 550 million
Ever since Diageo struck a deal to buy controlling stake in United Spirits Ltd, the two companies have pulled all stops to ensure the "dream combination" gets all the regulatory clearances.
John Beard, a former chief executive of Bacardi Brown Forman, replaces Ashwin Malik, who has led the Glasgow-based company since its takeover.
The intrigue surrounding how the Vijay Mallya-led UB Group will address the spiralling debt problem of its companies took a fresh turn on Tuesday, with one senior official saying there was a possibility of group firm United Spirits Ltd totally selling out its flagship subsidiary Whyte and Mackay (W&M), the scotch major based in Scotland.
According to the The Times, the move is a part of a drive to cut UB Group's $4 billion (2.5 billion pounds) debt.
Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya's move to rope in Diageo -- the world's largest spirits firm -- as a strategic partner in his flagship firm United Spirits has hit an anti-trust roadblock. The companies have been in discussions for almost a year to hammer out a deal in which Diageo was expected to pick up a little over 14 per cent stake in USL for around Rs 1,200 crore.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya is mulling to divest around 49 per cent stake in United Spirits Ltd's UK-based wholly-owned subsidiary Whyte & Mackay (W&M), which it acquired for 595 million pounds in May 2007.
In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), USL said it had made a recommendation to the board of subsidiary United Spirits to consider the sale of the entire share capital of Whyte & Mackay.
Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits on Wednesday said it had acquired Scottish whiskey maker Whyte & Mackay for 595 million pounds (nearly Rs 4,819 crore).
For the first nine months of the current financial year, net sales rose by close to 37 per cent to Rs 1,470 crore (Rs 14.7 billion( over the previous corresponding period, while operating profit increased by another 37 per cent to Rs 322 crore (Rs 3.22 billion).
Mallya had bought the pedigree scotch major, based in Scotland, for $1.2 billion in 2007.
Nearly six months after he put the stake sale process of Whyte & Mackay on the fast track to find a solution to United Spirits' high leverage, UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya is understood to be nearing a deal to offload 49 per cent stake in the flagship subsidiary.
This will be the largest M&A by an Indian firm, to be complete by January-end.
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