 "ED seeks Sebi input on United Spirits deals")
Ahead of Vijay Mallya's likely deposition on April 2, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought information from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) about several deals in which United Spirits Ltd (USL) had advanced loans to companies, including UB Holdings. The directorate wants to go over the trail of events, including the original purchase agreement involving Diageo, USL and Mallya in November 2012. "We wrote to Sebi to share details of the deal," an ED official told Business Standard.
One recent deal is Diageo's agreement to pay Mallya $75 million (Rs 515 crore) in tranches as a non-compete fee. The ED also wants details of the deal in 2012 when Diageo agreed to acquire 53.4 per cent stake in USL from Mallya's UB group for $2.05 billion.
The ED has also sent out official requests seeking details of investigations conducted by the income tax and the service tax departments and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office against Kingfisher Airlines. It has written to the Reserve Bank of India to ensure the UB group does not create any third-party rights on its holdings. With this, the UB group will not be able to conduct any transactions for business purposes.
"We need to prepare a strong ground before questioning Mallya. There are transactions that need to be examined before his appearance," said an ED official.
The agency is, in coordination with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), seeking details of overseas and domestic assets of Mallya and his company executives.
Sebi is probing Mallya's group companies that have financial relationships with USL. Sources in Sebi said the regulator was examining suspected violations of corporate governance and insider trading norms and possible share price manipulation.
