Mumbai: UB Group chairman and one-time billionaire Vijay Mallya on Thursday said resigned from the post of non executive chairman from United Spirits Ltd (USL), controlled by Diageo Plc.
Issuing a statement, he said that he will now be the chief mentor of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“Having recently turned 60, I have decided to spend more time in England, closer to my children,” Mallya said in a statement.
“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. Accordingly, I am resigning my position with immediate effect,” he added.
In the statement, he also said that he was pleased to have been able to agree terms with Diageo and United Spirits Limited.
“The agreement we have reached secures my family legacy. I have agreed a mutual release with both Diageo and United Spirits from claims concerning the alleged irregularities disclosed by USL in April 2015.
I am now the Founder Emeritus of United Spirits which recognises my contribution in building United Spirits to what it is today and evokes great emotions and a degree of extreme satisfaction having steered United Spirits from a sales volume of just under three million cases to over 120 million cases when control was passed to Diageo,” the statement said.
“I fondly remember, as a young boy, launching McDowell’s, which the largest selling brand in the industry is. I also recall the challenges and personal sacrifices in the tumultuous acquisition of Shaw Wallace and the Royal Challenge brand.
I feel both happy and satisfied that I helped create United Spirits as a clear market leader in the industry which contributed immensely to the local state economies.
The statement added that his son, Sidhartha, will remain as a director of the IPL franchise.
ANI