Ivan Manuel Menezes, the India-born CEO of the world's biggest spirits company Diageo, died on Wednesday, days after being hospitalised for treatment of stomach ulcer. Menezes, 64, who was to retire at the end of this month, died in London, the company said. "It is with great sadness that Diageo announces that Sir Ivan Menezes has passed away following a brief illness, with his family at his side," it said in a statement. Diageo had on Monday announced that CEO-designate Debra Crew will assume the top role on an interim basis immediately as Menezes undergoes medical treatment.
He led the company's acquisition of United Spirits.
'I think my first obsessive, possessive and only half-requited -- as we would joke -- 'love' was Ivan. I saw him first slouching down the corridor of St Stephen's College nearly 50 years ago and was instantly smitten (as was everyone else around him).'
General Singh was assigned to receive leaders representing the planet's two superpowers -- the president of the United States and the premier of the People's Republic of China.
He led the takeover of Vijay Mallya's United Spirits.
The liquor company is going all out to ensure it captures significant share in the market.
Many other Indians are heading the businesses at companies abroad.
TCS will manage Diageo's global IT infrastructure, data centres and servers, in addition to providing service desk support to employees, TCS said in a statement.
Diageo Western Europe President John Kennedy would will take responsibility for Russia, Eastern Europe and Turkey as President, Diageo Europe.
The footprints of Indian-origin corporate executives at multinationals is expanding, with Sandeep Kataria taking over the reins of footwear major Bata as its global chief executive officer. From FMCG majors to IT titans, Kataria joins the league of Indian-origin executives who have climbed the highest echelons of corporate across diverse sectors globally. From Nooyi to Pichai to Nadella, the list of such people at the helm of multi-billion dollar enterprises is long.
United Spirits wants to align its resources to meet its goals of becoming a trusted and respected consumer goods company.
UK-based Diageo paid Rs 3,030 for a share of United Spirits Ltd, more than double of Rs 1,440 it offered in the previous bid last year.
A factor which would be key to Scotch consumers is the new currency an independent Scotland would go for .
At the heart of Friday's case lay an ICICI Bank loan owed by Mallya's Watson and CASL, for which Diageo stepped in as a backstop so that it could be refinanced by Standard Chartered Bank.