Press Statement by Dr Vijay Mallya

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India , 2006-07-17

Various journalists have been calling me and other Senior Management of The UB Group stating that they have “authentic” information that The UB Group was acquiring Whyte and Mackay and that the necessary funding had been lined up with ICICI Bank.

I am both disappointed and pained at the speculative nature of such queries. More importantly, it displays complete insensitivity to Whyte and Mackay and its Directors and employees.

As the media is aware, Shaw Wallace and Company Limited were associated with Whyte and Mackay prior to their take over by The UB Group. In the last few months, we have been trying to re-establish this association and join forces to exploit opportunities in the Indian market.

The ICICI Lines of Credit were initially established for the acquisition of Shaw Wallace and have since been repaid. Separate Lines of Credit for Kingfisher Airlines have been put in place.

To make a connection between the Lines of Credit established with ICICI Bank and to speculate that these funds are being used to acquire Whyte and Mackay is a unfortunate stretch of imagination.

I trust that the media will respect the need for accurate reporting and to desist from speculative reporting that can derail relationships that are being forged.

(Vijay Mallya )
Chairman
The UB Group

Contact

Prakash Mirpiri, IPAN, +91 98210 91715
[email protected]