Mallya to meet with global brewers

Mumbai: The board of United Breweries Ltd yesterday authorised its chairman, Vijay Mallya, to carry out negotiations with leading global brewers following several unsolicited expressions of interest received by the company.

The board, which met today, took the decision, taking note of the fact "that a time has come where we can no longer ignore the representations made by the leading global brewers and their interest in UB".

Earlier reports suggested that global brewers such as Interbrew, Budweiser, and SABMiller have expressed interest in picking up a strategic stake in the country's leading brewer.