Heineken buys Mallya's 15% stake to take control of United Breweries

World's second-largest beer company pays Rs 5,825 cr to lenders for Mallya's share; stake consolidation, demand recovery positive for beer leader

Heineken, the second largest beer company in the world, increased its stake in United Breweries (UBL) to 61.5 per cent on Wednesday. The Dutch parent of UBL, which had 45 per cent stake prior to today’s transaction, bought the 14.99 per cent stake worth about Rs 5,825 crore held by the Debt Recovery Tribunal.

Given that Heineken received an exemption from making an open offer, it could also acquire the balance 11 per cent UB group stake pledged with banks through the same route. If this goes through, Heineken’s stake in UBL, which has a 50 per cent share in