The Securities and Exchange Board of India is looking into whether there has been any insider trading in United Spirits’ shares. It has asked the company for a chronology of events relating to the reported stake sale to Diageo plc.
Of late, United Spirits stock has been active on the exchanges and is one of the top performers. It touched a year-high of Rs 1,309.40 on October 4 and has more than doubled in 2012.
On Wednesday, the stock closed at Rs 1,263.30 on the BSE.
The Vijay Mallya-owned United Spirits, and Diageo Plc, on September 25, confirmed that the latter is in discussion with United Spirits and United Breweries (Holdings) for a possible stake buy.
UB Holdings holds 28 per cent stake in United Spirits. The entire stake has been pledged with various financial institutions.
Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the UB Group which owns United Spirits and UB Holdings, had told newspersons that both the companies have been holding talks for a ‘long time’.
SEBI has asked USL to provide the sequence of events starting from the negotiation stage (with Diageo Plc) to the current exchange announcement in a chronological order.
The market regulator was also seeking information from the company on those who were privy to this 'price sensitive' information.
The regulator had asked for the information before October 1.
UB Holdings stood corporate guarantee to Kingfisher Airlines to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore.