Liqour baron Vijay Mallya bought the Spyker Ferrari F1 Team for 90 million euros.
Vijay Mallya is the owner of the UB Group, which happens to be the 2'nd largest Global Spirits marker.
“I have been dreaming about owning a Formula One team - I was looking at the right opportunity at the right time,” Mr Mallya, a showman known for his love of fast cars, race-horses and a good party, said.
The decision to buy an F1 team is to take Mr. Mallya's brands forward into the Global Market mainly to promote Kingfisher - the Kingfisher beer that accounts for 60 per cent of the Indian market and Mr Mallya’s two-year-old Kingfisher airline, which is rapidly becoming a threat to Jet Airways.
The Toyota Panasonic F1 team also happens to carry Kingfisher ads on their cars
UB sells about 2.5 million cases of Kingfisher beer in Europe, mainly in the UK, and aims to double that by the end of 2009 on the back of Scottish and Newcastle’s distribution network.
“I am all about building brands and, in the context of young India, this is a huge value-creation opportunity for me,” said Mr Mallya, who claims that his first word was “car”. “Formula One is very relevant. I have done this absolutely at the right time and I intend to make money from it.”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article2373894.ece
