Kishore Chhabria, after settling a two-decade-old legal battle with rival Vijay Mallya, is set to accelerate the expansion of his liquor company, Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD).
Last year, ABD posted sales of Rs 1,800 crore and has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 30 percent during the past few years, primarily riding on his flagship whisky brand Officers Choice, which contributes nearly 95 percent of the revenues.
Both Mallya-led United Spirits and ABD were locked in a long-drawn legal battle over Officer’s Choice. In an out of the court settlement, ABD has agreed to pay Rs 8 crore to United Spirits in return for withdrawing all court cases claiming right over the whisky.
Chhabria is now expected to raise private equity funding of around Rs 250 crore and will draw up a comprehensive plan to go up the premium ladder with Officers Choice-Blue.
Expressing satisfaction over the settlement with Mallya, Chhabria said that even though he was confident that the litigations held no risk for either Officers Choice or ABD, the settlement would free him from all legal activities and he would be able to focus on developing the company to its full potential.
Today’s settlement brought to an end the 20-year old dispute between KRC Group of Companies and the erstwhile Shaw Wallace Group of Companies, which is now part of United Spirits.
