The scrips of spirits majors United Breweries (UB) and Shaw Wallace (SWC) touched their upper circuit filters on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). UB, which closed at Rs 106.25, hit the 20 per cent upper limit of the circuit breaker on talks that the company is close to appointing a strategic partner for its beer business, which is being spun off into a separate company. The partner is expected to pick up a 26 per cent stake at a substantial premium over the market price in the beer major, dealers said.

According to the announcement, the company will begin selling Kyndal brands of Scotch whisky such as Whyte & Mackay, Dalmore and Isle of Jura in India, while Kyndal will help sell some major Shaw Wallace brands abroad.

The tie-up is a major step forward for Shaw Wallace in achieving its objective of becoming a truly global company.

Shaw Wallace & Company (SWCL), a leading exporter of Indian-made foreign liqour (IMFL), is managed by Manmohan Chhabria. It is a colossal enterprise - spanning 17 businesses and 55 quality products.

The company has six main divisions - agriculture and chemicals, scraps, detergents and toiletries, international business, real estate and shipping agencies.

The wines, spirits and beer division constitutes another lucrative and profit-making division of the company. Haywards Fine Whisky, Old Tavern, Director's Special and Royal Challenge are some of its popular brands.

In September 2001, the company announced that it will hive off its liquor and beer businesses into two separate subsidiaries and will most probably sign up a foreign brewer to fortify its beer business.

The restructuring exercise, to take effect over the next 12 months, will see the birth of two new subsidiaries - Shaw Wallace Distilleries and Shaw Wallace Breweries. The flagship, Shaw Wallace Company, in turn, will act as the holding company.

Shaw Wallace has also undertaken the services of global consultants McKinsey & Co to devise the strategic direction of core business and cost control.

The company's expansion plans involve setting up of four greenfield breweries one each in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Goa at an investment of Rs 100 crore.

It is also expanding the capacity of its four major breweries including Skol Breweries, Uran (Maharashtra); Sica Breweries, Pondicherry; Charminar Breweries, Hyderabad and Haryana Breweries, Sonepat (Haryana).