Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Thursday stepped down as non-executive chairman of United Spirits Ltd, controlled by Diageo Plc, after making a $75-million deal with the company that has also agreed to drop all charges of irregularities against him.
Livemint reported that 60-year-old Mallya, who is known for his ostentatious lifestyle as much for his business acumen, would be moving to England to spend more time with his children after his exit as the founder of United Spirits.
Mallya now has control over holding company United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd whose share in India’s largest spirits maker United Spirits has dropped to less than 3%. Besides the fact that he is not the largest shareholder in United Breweries Ltd, he has also lost management control of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd.
“The time has now come for me to move on and end all the publicised allegations and uncertainties about my relationship with Diageo and United Spirits Limited. I am resigning my position with immediate effect,” said Mallya.
Diageo said MK Sharma, former Hindustan Unilever veteran and chairman of the audit committee, would be the new chairman of USL with immediate effect, reported Economic Times.
In April 2015, the London-headquartered Diageo alleged that it found financial irregularities in the years before 2013.
The development follows three state-run banks -- Punjab National Bank, United Bank and SBI -- declaring him, his group holding company United Breweries Holdings Ltd and long-defunct Kingfisher Airlines as willful defaulters.
A bank consortium led by SBI has decided to auction Kingfisher House in Mumbai on March 17 this year in a bid to recover a part of Rs 6,963 crore debt due from Kingfisher.