Vijay Mallya takes Rs.1.7-cr pay package from US brewery

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya got a pay package of over Rs 1.7 crore last year from his US-based brewery firm that itself is struggling for funds. The firm has been served “default” notices by lenders.

More than half of Mallya’s total package for 2015 has been paid by California-based Mendocino Brewing Company (MBC) Inc to him for “promoting” the company’s beer brands.

Mallya serves as the chairman of the board of directors of the company, which has an exclusive licence to brew and distribute Kingfisher premium lager in various countries. Besides, it produces and sells a number of craft beer brands.

United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), the holding firm of Mallya-led UB Group, is the “indirect majority shareholder” of MBC.

In its annual Form 10-K filing for the year



2015, submitted with the US markets’ regulator SEC, MBC has disclosed that Mallya was paid a total compensation of USD 256,900 (about Rs 1.71 crore), unchanged from the previous year. “Vijay Mallya, chairman of the board, is paid $120,000 per year by MBC for services rendered as chairman, and 89,600 British pound per year by UBIUK for promoting our products in the foreign territory outside the United Kingdom,” it said.

MBC’s foreign operations are conducted through wholly-owned subsidiary United Breweries International UK Ltd and a step-down unit Kingfisher Beer Europe Ltd.

The two largest shareholders of Mendocino are United Breweries America (UBA) and Inversiones, both of which are controlled by Rigby International Corp, which in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UBHL.