Vijay Mallya Finally Buys Whyte & Mackay

March 2007

After months of speculation and acres of reportage, liquor baron Vijay Mallya is acquiring the Glasgow based scotch maker Whyte & Mackay. A K Ravi Nedungadi, United Breweries Group chief financial officer, told DNA Money, "Yes, we will close the deal in some days". Mallya will be buying out the Scottish whisky firm in an all-cash deal, the valuation of which has been a contentious issue for both the buyer and the seller since months.

The due-diligence is over, and we have pretty much arrived at a price. We cannot disclose it now due to confidentiality clauses in the deal. Also, the figure keeps moving, said Nedungadi. Whatever be the valuation (reported at around 550 million/Rs.4600 Crores), Nedungadi said more than half would be for W&M's inventory of scotch. Currently, UB imports 12 million litres of scotch to meet its blending requirements. Besides the scotch inventory, Mallya would also be getting the Scottish firm's manufacturing assets and brands which include Whyte & Mackay scotch whisky, Dalmore Single Highland Malt, Vladivar vodka and Jura single malt.