United Breweries Asks Vijay Mallya To Step Down From Its Board

United Breweries, the company which manufactures the popular Kingfisher beer has asked Vijay Mallya to step down as a non-executive chairman of the company with immediate effect. This comes after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued an order that forbade Mallya from holding any position in listed companies.

The Background

Mallya took over as the chairman of United Breweries Group in 1983 which produces Kingfisher beer, which has more than a 50% market share in India’s beer market.

Since 2012, Mallya has been under the scanner for financial scandals including defaults on loans, money laundering and financial fraud. In early 2016, Mallya flew to England where he has been living for a year despite several cases against him in India.

Asked To Step Down

On Wednesday, United Breweries filed a letter with the Bombay Stock Exchange asking Mallya to step down. “The board has passed a resolution that Mallya should step down and we have asked the company secretary to convey the message to him,” the letter said.

“In order to comply with the Sebi order and in the absence of any stay or vacation of the said order, the board is compelled to request you to step down from the board of United Breweries with immediate effect,” said UB in a mail sent to Mallya.

At present, Heineken owns 43% of United Breweries after it purchased Mallya’s pledged shares from Yes Bank and ECL Finance. It has reportedly been trying to get Mallya removed for a while.