Pharma tycoon Adar Poonawalla has emerged as a potential suitor for the Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru, sparking fresh speculation around a possible change in ownership of one of the league's most high-profile teams.
The company hires Accenture for financial re-engineering, including slashing of debt ratios; changes to be visible soon
The agency did not seek a reappointment in FY12.
USL board said its second forensic audit by EY has revealed fund diversion worth Rs 1,225 cr to Mallya companies.
Sebi on Friday barred fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya from the securities markets and restrained him from associating with any listed firm for three years in the matter of routing of funds to the Indian securities market using overseas bank accounts with UBS AG. The Indian government has been attempting to extradite Mallya from the United Kingdom to face fraud charges related to his now-defunct company Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya has been living in the United Kingdom since March 2016.
Diageo, the world's largest distiller, has been focusing on compliance at United Spirits Ltd (USL) after its acquisition of a controlling stake in India's largest spirits maker.
Move comes as huge provisions for bad loans push loss to Rs 4,488 crore.
Asked to quit United Spririts' board, Vijay Mallya struck a defiant note saying he 'intends' to continue as its Chairman.
IDBI Trusteeship Services, in its capacity as the lenders' trustee to Kingfisher Airlines, has invoked a little over 4.93 mn shares worth Rs 1,300 crore.
The company will move swiftly to consolidate its recent acquisition of three distilleries and will also take a decision on setting up a Rs 650-crore two-furnace glass plant in Andhra Pradesh, said sources.
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.
RBI, Enforcement Directorate to see if money was sent to tax haven
The move by United Spirits, the Rs 3,500-crore flagship spirits firm of the UB Group, to rope in Diageo as a strategic partner is taking more time than expected. Diageo, a global leader in spirits, is reported to have said it was yet to figure out a structure under which they could forge a strategic relationship with USL.USL has been actively involved in discussions with Diageo for nearly eight months now.
McDowell's, the whisky brand owned by USL, sold 19.27 million nine-litre cases of Indian made foreign liquor whisky in 2012, compared to Officer's Choice whisky, owned by the Chhabria-led Allied Blenders & Distillers, which sold 18.55 million cases.
Mallya will now be the Founder Emeritus of USL
Sebi issued final observations, necessary for the offer and the deal as a whole to go through, on May 21.
A week after lenders invoked more of pledged shares, they did so again.
Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines, led by State Bank of India, had moved courts to get residual rights over these shares after Srei recovered the collateral from the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, making it difficult for Srei to sell the shares, said a legal source.
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.
The world's largest liquor maker Diageo Plc on Tuesday made an open offer worth Rs 11,448.91 crore (Rs 114.48 billion) to acquire an additional 26 per cent stake in United Spirits Ltd.
A young fan named Antonella Siegert stole the show with a daring pitch invasion, fulfilling her 'lifelong dream' of a selfie with the legendary footballer.
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According to data reviewed by Business Standard, the dues from UB Holdings alone to USL shot up by 4.3 times to Rs 1,188 crore (Rs 11.88 billion) by the end of the last financial year, compared to an outstanding of Rs 272 crore (Rs 2.72 billion) by the end of FY12.
The next step will be the 10 per cent preferential allotment, which the UB Group promoters will be making in favour of Diageo.
Diageo, under a share purchase agreement (SPA) with UBHL and various other sellers, had acquired 21,767,749 shares (14.98 per cent) in USL
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.
'USL owes us Rs 4.5 crore from November to March apart from the rest of this year. We will file a case of creditors' liquidation against USL within the next couple of days'
Diageo asks Mallya to quit USL board; alleges fund diversion
'Our approach has been to work with consumers and help them drink better, not more.'
The offer, open on April 10-26, was meant to acquire close to 38 million shares at Rs 1,440 a piece.
The question now is, legal experts say, whether the new norms would come into effect prospectively or retrospectively.
Deal will help the Diageo to ramp up its presence in the global whiskey market and Vijay Mallya to repay debts of its group company Kingfisher Airlines.
Diageo gets assurance, Heineken may seek one, too.
Confirming the sale, senior executives of public-sector banks said there was no court directive yet to stop selling shares.
Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits Ltd has told its investors that at its current growth rate of 12 per cent annually, it will become the world's number one spirits company this fiscal.
United Spirits had earlier forked out a loan of as much as Rs 1,350 crore to UB Holdings.
After underperforming its peers in the consumer space in 2022-23, and experiencing a mixed bag in the 2023-24 (FY24) April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1), brokerages are positive about the medium-term outlook for liquor stocks. Higher raw material costs, concerns regarding increased duties, regulatory changes, and competitive pressures weighed on performance returns in the past quarters. Analysts believe that the sector could experience a reversal of fortunes due to better demand and margin improvements.
Educational technology company Byju's chief financial officer Ajay Goel has quit after completing the audit process for the financial year 2022 and will return to Vedanta, the company said in a statement. The edtech major has roped in industry veteran Pradip Kanakia as senior advisor, and president (finance) Nitin Golani has been given additional responsibility as India chief finance officer (CFO) to handle the finance function of the company.
'It is surprising and unfortunate that unfounded allegations are now being made without any reference to me whatsoever,' Vijay Mallya said.
Last Saturday, USL board asked its Chairman Vijay Mallya to quit.
'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'
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