Ub Wants Foreign Ally To Sell Its Beer Brands Abroad

The UB Group is planning to put a unique rider for anybody wanting to become its foreign joint venture partner in UB Ltd, the beer company: they will have to market some of its brands abroad.

A top UB Group official said in the event of a foreign player picking up a stake in UB Ltd, it would incorporate in the joint venture agreement a clause which makes it mandatory for the foreign company to market some of its popular brands, including its largest-selling Kingfisher brand abroad.

"We are not selling out. It is only going to be a participation," the official said. UB Group has already announced that it is willing to allow up to 26 per cent stake in the restructured UB Ltd to a foreign beer major.

The official said the company wants to leverage the network and the reach of the foreign partner to market Kingfisher abroad.

The UB group has already appointed Deloitte, Haskins & Sells and ILFS for restructuring the group while Kotak Mahindra has been appointed to identify a strategic investor in UB Ltd even as it has decided to wind up UB Carlsberg Ltd.

"We will be happy if Carlsberg reintroduce themselves," the official said.

He said Kotak Mahindra has already started receiving offers from several international beer majors for tying up with UB Ltd.

Deloitte has been asked to work out the parameters for restructuring the group. "They will look at on how to spin off the beer company, to look at liabilities and valuation of each subsidiary," he said.

The entire exercise is to make it tax neutral. The UB Group has said that it expects to mop up around Rs 400 crore from sale of its non-core businesses including Mangalore Chemical & Fertilisers and stake in Hoechst and Aventis and hopes to wipe off debts of the group and have around Rs 100 crore in excess.

The proceeds of these disinvestments will be applied to the elimination of UB's debt as well as investments and it expects to still have around Rs 100 crore in excess.