Acche Din for United Breweries

The stock of United Breweries (UBL) has attracted the attention of investors on the first day of trade post-Diwali holidays. There is a buzz in the media that Vijay Mallya will step down from the UBL's board and nominate a successor. UBL was trading at Rs. 851.45, higher by Rs. 13.85 or 1.65% during early trade on Monday. The stock opened at Rs. 846. 

The company has been persuading the beleaguered businessman to leave the company's board for a while now. In February, the board had asked Mallya, who is the non-executive chairman of UBL to step down with immediate effect. The board's decision was in reaction to SEBI's order in January which barred Mallya from accessing the market for violations of the listing agreement and diversion of funds. The company had reported that it has stopped sharing information with Mallya in line with the SEBI's directives. 

Indian banks have declared Mallya has a 'wilful defaulter'. The term means that the company or individual has no intention of paying back the borrowed money. It also means the entity has diverted the money to purposes other than for which the money was borrowed for and/or has sold the asset acquired with the money without the consent of the lender.