Mallya: Raising a toast

Mumbai, Jan. 24: The UB group will acquire Deepak Roy?s 15 per cent stake in Triumph Distillers & Vintners (TDV), the owners of Gilbey?s Green Label whisky. The purchase will take its holding in the company, valued at more than Rs 100 crore, to 100 per cent.

The move caps the consolidation process at UB, which recently struck a deal to acquire Kishore Chhabria?s stake in Herbertsons. That gave it control of Bagpiper whisky.

In a week from now, Triumph Distillers and Vintners (TDV) will become a wholly-owned company of the UB spirits group. ?We are getting close and we?ll announce something in a week to 10 days,? Roy told The Telegraph. The UB group already owns 85 per cent of the firm.

Vijay Mallya, who controls UB, had helped Roy acquire TDV from UDV, a company where he worked as an executive. Under an agreement the two signed, Mallya was given the option to acquire 15 per cent after two years.

Roy now hopes to unlock the value of his investments. ?I would like to be with the UB group. My deal was that I would be with the company for life. It?s for Mallya to decide in what position he?ll take me,? he said when asked about where he would head after divesting his stake.

Ashok Wadhwa of Ambit is representing Roy, while the UB group is handling negotiations directly. The consulting firm has handled similar assignments for the UB group in the past. It helped Roy bag TDV when its foreign owner decided to sell its non-core brands in India.

Since its change of hands in 2000, TDV has grown sizeably in sales and valuation ? its Green Label is the third-largest whisky brand. Roy claims sales of the brand went up 8,00,000 cases per annum to 3 million cases.

The decision to sell the stake, Roy said, was prompted by the synergies of aligning with UB. ?In addition, it would help unlock fair value for me,? Roy added.