Heineken seeks oust Mallya from UB board

Heineken International is seeking shareholder approval to change United Breweries Ltd’s (UBL) Articles of Association (AoA) to enable it to nominate a chairman, since Vijay Mallya is chairman for life and currently has sole authority to nominate a successor.This follows Heineken’s acquisition of the fugitive economic offender’s shares from the Debt Recovery Tribunal that had increased its shareholding in the company to 61.5% from 46.5% earlier.The beer maker will seek the nod at an annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled on July 29 and may even call off the resolution if Mallya agrees to change the existing shareholder agreement and step down before the AGM, a source said.Heineken is understood to have discussed the issue with financial institutions to garner support for the same. Its current stake in UBL makes it a majority shareholder. The AoA currently mandates 75% shareholding to seek approval from shareholders through an AGM.Heineken has hit a deadend on its shareholder agreement with Mallya as it had not changed the original agreement signed between Mallya and erstwhile partner, Scottish & Newscastle, which Heineken acquired in 2008. Mallya is currently fighting extradition attempts by Indian regulators and has sought time to name a successor at UBL.Heineken confirmed the development.Mallya resigned from the UBL board in 2017 after Sebi disqualified him as director of a listed company. The regulator’s decision came after lenders declared him a wilful defaulter. The Enforcement Directorate subsequently attached 41.3 million UBL shares held by eight promoter firms, equivalent to a 15.63% stake.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3AvX1Wq