ECL Finance invokes pledge on ₹365-cr worth Mallya group shares

Our Bureau Updated - January 20, 2018 at 05:19 AM.

Takes ownership of 9.30 lakh shares of USL and 7.05 lakh shares of United Breweries

TO GO WITH India-Britain-company-merger-beverage-Diageo,FOCUS by Penelope MacRae &amp;#13; (FILES) In this file photo taken on March 15, 2012, chairman of United Spirits, Vijay Mallya, talks on his phone in New Delhi. Diageo hopes it will be second time lucky for its 1.9-billion USD offer to wrest full control of India's United Spirits as the British booze giant seeks to ramp up its presence in the whisky-loving nation. AFP PHOTO/ Manan VATSYAYANA /FILES&amp;#13;

Financial services firm ECL Finance has invoked the pledge on shares worth about ₹365 crore of beleaguered Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries and United Spirits.

Financiers take such a course of action when a pledger defaults in repaying a loan or is unable to meet margin money commitments.

In a disclosure to the BSE, McDowell Holdings, which had pledged shares of United Spirits, said ECL Finance has invoked pledge on 9.30 lakh shares of United Spirits, worth about ₹235 crore.

In a separate disclosure, United Breweries said the financial services firm had invoked pledge on 7.05 lakh shares (worth about ₹56.7 crore) pledged by Kamsco Industries Pvt Ltd and 9.30 lakh shares (worth ₹74.8 crore) pledged by McDowell Holdings.

ECL Industries had invoked the pledge on these shares on March 17.

Shareholdings

McDowell Holdings, which hold 87.22 lakh shares of United Breweries, had pledged 79.81 lakh shares with financial companies.

Kamsco Industries that holds 62.29 lakh shares had pledged 29.84 lakh shares.

UBL said: “Kamsco Industries Pvt Ltd had pledged certain shares of United Breweries Ltd to ECL Finance Ltd (pledgee) to secure the credit facility availed by PE Data Center Resources Pvt Ltd from the pledgee. The present disclosures pertain to invocation of the pledge by the pledgee on March 17.”

SBI move

Last week, ECL Finance had invoked pledge on 72,250 United Breweries (Holding) shares that were pledged by United Spirits.

The invocation of the pledge comes at a time when the SBI-led banking consortium has stepped up pressure on Mallya for recovery of ₹9,091 crore loans given to the grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

Industrialist Vijay Mallya had left the country on March 2 — the day public sector banks moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal against him for recovery of debts.

On Tuesday, shares of United Breweries closed 3.74 per cent higher at ₹842.60 while those of United Spirits inched up 0.20 per cent at ₹2,622.20 on the BSE. Shares of McDowell Holdings gained 1.7 per cent at ₹23.75 and those of UB Holdings were up 2.67 per cent ₹19.20.

Published on March 22, 2016 16:56