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United Breweries Group or UB Group, based in Bangalore, is a conglomerate of 

different companies with a major focus on the brewery (beer) and alcoholic beverages

industry. The company markets of its beer under the Kingfisher brand and has alsolaunched Kingfisher Airlines, an airline service in India, with international flights

operating recently. United Breweries is India's largest producer of beer with a market

share of around 48% by volume.[1]

Its owned by Vijay Mallya who is also a member of the Indian Parliament. United Breweries now has greater than a 40% share of the Indian

 brewing market with 79 distilleries and bottling units across the world.. Recently UB

financed a takeover of the spirits business of the rival Shaw-Wallace company giving it amajority share of India's spirits business. The group owns the Mendocino Brewing

Company in the United States.

History

The UB Group was founded by a Scotsman, Thomas Leishman, in 1857. The Group took 

its initial lessons in manufacturing beer from South India based British  breweries. At theage of 22, Vittal Mallya was elected as the company's first Indian director in 1977. After 

a year, he replaced R G N Price as the chairman of the company.

UB Group's headquarters in Bangalore, India

United Breweries made its initial impact by manufacturing bulk beer for the British

troops, which was transported in huge barrels or "Hogsheads". Kingfisher, the group'smost visible and profitable brand, made a modest entry in the sixties. During the 1950s

and 60s, the company expanded greatly by acquiring other breweries. First was the

addition of McDowell as one of the Group subsidiaries, a move which helped United

Breweries to extend its portfolio to wines and spirits business. Strategically, the Group

moved into agro-based industries and medicines when Mallya acquired Kissan Productsand formed a long-term relationship with Hoechst AG of Germany to create the Indian

 pharmaceutical company now known as Aventis Pharma, the Indian subsidiary of theglobal pharma major Sanofi-Aventis.

[edit] The logo

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The Pegasus, which is the symbol of the United Breweries, first found its place as the

Group logo in 1940. Then, the Helladic horse – associated with beer and nectar  in Greek 

mythology – carried a beer cask between the wings, ostensibly because beer formed thecore operations of the Group. Later, the beer cask was removed to represent the Group's

multifaceted operations. Now, it is just the Pegasus.

[edit] Present history

Sales of United Spirits Ltd [3] products are expected to exceed 60 million cases during

the fiscal year 2005–06, making the Group the third-largest manufacturer of spirits products in the world,[2] only after Diageo PLC and Pernod Ricard. In addition, USL is

one of only three in the world to own seven millionaire brands and at least five brands

rated by Drinks International, UK, to be amongst the ten fastest growing brands in theworld in their respective categories. The market share of the Spirits Division in India is

currently 60% and exports to the Middle East, Africa and Asian countries are growing

rapidly.

The UB Group's brewing entity – called United Breweries Limited (UBL) - has alsoassumed undisputed market leadership with a national market share in excess of 50%.

Through a process of aggressive acquisition and market penetration, The UB Group

today controls 60% of the total manufacturing capacity for beer in India. The flagship

 brand, Kingfisher , is now sold in over 52 countries worldwide, having received manyaccolades for its quality.

With plans to become a global player, United Spirits Ltd. (USL), the flagship of the UB

group, purchased the Scottish distiller  Whyte and Mackay in May 2007 for £595 million(Rs. 4,800 crore).[3] This would bring the brands of W&M like The Dalmore, Isle of Jura,

Glayva, Fettercairn, Vladivar Vodka, and Whyte & Mackay Scotch under its portfolio.

The UB group is also into manufacture of fertilizers. The group company Mangalore

Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) has a factory at Panambur in Dakshina Kannada districtof Karnataka.

UB Engineering Limited is the group's engineering business arm. It undertakes EPC

Projects, Infrastructure, on-site fabrication of structures, installation, testing and

Commissioning of Electrical and Mechanical Equipments, Piping etc. for large industrial projects such as Power, Refineries, Steel, Cement, Fertilizer, Petrochemical and

Desalination Projects. The company was initially established as Western India Erectors in

1963 and came under the UB Group in 1988.

The group entrance to the IT sector had also been marked by the formation of UBICS,Inc. The company provides IT consulting, services and professional IT products to

 business companies.

In August 2007, the group made a first-of-its-kind media alliance for the promotion of 

 NDTV Good Times, a lifestyle television channel run by NDTV.

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United Spirits Limited has 144 brands under its umbrella, including White Mischief 

vodka, the market leading brand in India.