Diageo had acquired USL from Mr Mallya in 2012
Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Limited home page.
Mumbai: Proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Limited (IiAS) on Monday questioned Diageo’s claim that it did not know of the intra-group transactions that happened between United Spirits and the UB Group under the Vijay Mallya-led management. Diageo had acquired USL from Mr Mallya in 2012.
In October 2014, IiAS claimed that it had questioned how Diageo could support Mr Mallya for re-election to the USL board knowing the situation that he was mired in, and specially when 50 per cent of the institutional investors voted for the ouster of Mr Mallya. It was Diageo’s votes that saw his re-election as chairman. IiAS has then said that USL shareholders have the right to know why Diageo was applying one standard of propriety to their Indian subsidiary and another to their parent company.
IiAS had even questioned the appointment of P.A. Murali, its executive director to the USL board. Mr Murali was the chief financial officer when the diversion took place and Diageo even rewarded him with a Rs 5 crore one-time bonus in FY15.
While claiming that there are no victims on this USL saga, the advisory firm, however, insisted that Mr Mallya should step down from the board of United Spirits Ltd till he is cleared of the allegations of diverting Rs 3,000 crore from USL to the UB group and the ‘wilful defaulter’ tag in the Kingfisher Airlines case.
On Monday, IiAS asked Diageo as to what compelled it to not run a thorough due diligence, and miss asking the obvious questions. It also sought to know the reasons for backing Mr Mallya for the chairman’s post.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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