UB to sell non-core assets: Mallya

United Breweries (Holdings) Limited (UBHL) would sell its non-core assets and is on the lookout for potential buyers, company chairman Vijay Mallya said on Monday. “I am looking at various ways to deal with non-core assets, but am under no compulsion to sell. There won’t be a distress sale”, he said after the Annual General Meeting of Kingfisher Properties and Holdings Limited, which was renamed as UBHL.

	To launch sports car
BANGALORE: UBL would launch a two-seater car Kingfisher Storm with a price tag of Rs 5.5 lakh on road, said Vijay Mallya. “Kingfisher Storm will reinforce Kingfisher’s brand equity and value”, he said. Shareholders gave their nod for investment of up to Rs 5 crore in city-based San Motors Limited in this regard. Sources said the 2200 cc car would have fibre-glass body. (PTI)

The AGM of United Breweries Limited, which solely focussed on the beer business, was also held today, and Mallya said the company’s beer sales clocked a 21 per cent jump, both in terms of sales and revenue in the first five months (April-August) of 2002-03, compared to the same period last year. Shareholders of UB Limited and UBHL, the holding company, gave their nod to introduce stock option scheme for their employees. Mallya also said that about 250 employees had opted for VRS.

He said the acquisitions done in the last 18 months, cost the firm around Rs 270 crore.