Mallya gets $75 million payout and keeps F1 team

Force India boss and co-owner Vijay Mallya will receive $75 million to walk away from a company.

United Spirits, the flagship of the United Breweries company Mallya took over from his late father, will pay the 60-year-old US $75 million to exit after an acrimonious fight with Diageo.

Diageo, the alcohol multinational, had fought with Mallya since taking a controlling stake in United Spirits.

But Mallya will now receive EUR 40 million immediately and the rest in instalments, while Diageo has agreed to also extended Smirnoff's $15 million per season sponsorship of the Force India team for five more years.

"The time has now come for me to move on and end all the publicised allegations and uncertainties about my relationship with Diageo and United Spirits," Mallya said in a statement.

Force India's future in F1 has also been questioned recently due to problems with Subrata Roy, the jailed team co-owner and boss of title sponsor Sahara.

Below is Mallya's statement in full:

"Having recently turned 60, I have decided to spend more time in England, closer to my children.

The time has now come for me to move on and end all the publicised allegations and uncertainties about my relationship with Diageo and United Spirits Limited. Accordingly, I am resigning my position with immediate effect.

I am pleased to have been able to agree terms with Diageo and United Spirits Limited. The agreement we have reached secures my family legacy.

I have agreed a mutual release with both Diageo and United Spirits from claims concerning the alleged irregularities disclosed by USL in April 2015. I am now the Founder Emeritus of United Spirits which recognises my contribution in building United Spirits to what it is today and evokes great emotions and a degree of extreme satisfaction having steered United Spirits from a sales volume of just under 3 million cases to over 120 million cases when control was passed to Diageo.

I fondly remember, as a young boy, launching McDowell’s, which is the largest selling brand in the industry. I also recall the challenges and personal sacrifices in the tumultuous acquisition of Shaw Wallace and the Royal Challenge brand. I feel both happy and satisfied that I helped create United Spirits as a clear market leader in the industry which contributed immensely to the local state economies.

On the sporting front, I will now be the Chief Mentor of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. I have been passionate about this team since inception and am determined to do whatever I can to win the IPL trophy. I am glad that my son, Sidhartha, will remain as a Director as he is equally passionate about RCB.

I have also agreed a global (excluding United Kingdom) 5 year non-compete arrangement."