United Spirits

The company originated as a trading company called McDowell and Company (also known as McDowell & Co, McDowell or McDowell's), founded in India in 1826 by Angus McDowell, a Scot. He set up a warehouse near Fort St. George, Madras (now Chennai). The company imported liquor, tobacco products, and other consumer goods into India to serve the needs of British people stationed there. On 21 March 2005, McDowell & Company entered into an agreement with Jumbo World Holdings Limited (JWHL) in Dubai to acquire Shaw Wallace. The board of Shaw Wallace approved the merger of the company with USL and fixed the appointed date of the merger as 1 April 2008 subject to approvals. In 2006, McDowell & Co Limited, Herbertsons Limited, Triumph Distillers and Vintners Private Limited, Baramati Grape Industries India Limited, Shaw Wallace Distilleries Limited and four other companies are merged to form United Spirits Limited. Bouvet Ladubay, a subsidiary of France-based Taittinger was acquired the same year. USL also acquired Liquidity Inc., makers of Pinky Vodka, in 2007. USL launched Black Dog 18 YO and Four Seasons Barrique Reserve in 2009–10, and McDowell's No 1 Platinum, 100% grain-based whisky, in 2011. On 4 July 2013, Diageo bought an additional 14.98% of the company for . Diageo acquired an additional 21.77 million shares at a cost of per share in an off-market deal from United Spirits' promoters, raising its holdings to 25.02 percent of the company. Following that purchase, Diageo held 36.3 million shares in USL, acquired at a cost of , making it the largest shareholder. Under pressure from Diageo, some substantial changes to the management structure of the firm began to take place in 2013. In 2014, Diageo's shareholdings rose to 54.8% of USL. On 5 November 2017, the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, revealed that United Spirits with three other subsidiaries based in the UK were allegedly involved with diverting funds amounting to $1.5 billion. ==Technical centre==

The USL technical centre was opened in 1989 in Bangalore, and is recognised by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) as an in-house Research & Development laboratory. ==United Spirits brands==

USL manufactures Indian whisky, Scotch whisky, brandy, rum, vodka, gin and wine. ;Indian whisky • Antiquity • Bagpiper • McDowell's No.1 • McDowell's No.1 Platinum • McDowell's Single Malt • Royal Challenge • Royal Challenge American Pride • Signature ;Scotch whisky • Black Dog ;Wine • Bouvet Ladubay • Four Seasons ;Vodka • Pinky • Romanov • White Mischief ; Brandy • Honey Bee • McDowell's VSOP ;Rum • McDowell's No.1 Celebration ;Gin • Blue Riband ==Distillery locations==

USL owns several distilleries throughout India, and also owns one unit in Nepal. Besides these, USL also has several contract and associate distilleries in India, and one in Nepal. ;Operational USL owned units • Malkajgiri, Hyderabad, Telangana • Nacharam, Hyderabad, Telangana • Bethora-Ponda, Goa • Kumbalgodu, Bangalore, Karnataka • Aurangabad, Maharashtra • Baramati, Maharashtra • Nasik, Maharashtra • Alwar, Rajasthan • Nimapara, Odisha • Pioneer Distillery, Nanded, Maharashtra • Asansol, West Bengal ;Contract and associate units • Rhizome Distilleries Pvt. Ltd (Hyderabad, Telangana) • Esveear Dist (Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh) • Continental Distillery (Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh) • North East Distilleries Pvt Ltd (Guwahati, Assam) • Surma Distillery Pvt Ltd (Silchar, Assam) • M T M Wines & Bottlers Pvt Limited (Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh) • Aegis Beverages (P) Ltd (Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh) • Khemani Distilleries Pvt Ltd (Daman) • Saraya Industries Ltd (New Delhi) • Mandovi Distilleries & Breweries Pvt Ltd (Goa) • A B Sugars Ltd (Haryana) • Sir Shadilal Distillery & Chemical Works (Haryana) • Trishul Bottlers (Jammu and Kashmir) • Ajantha Bottlers & Blenders Pvt Ltd (Ranchi, Jharkhand) • Ambient Liquors Pvt Ltd (Jharkhand) • Karnataka Breweries & Distilleries Ltd (Bangalore, Karnataka) • Seven Seas Distillery Pvt Ltd (Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala) • Ajantha Distilleries (Nagpur, Maharashtra) • Rainbow Distilleries Pvt Ltd (Nagpur, Maharashtra) • Jubilant Organosys Limited (Pune, Maharashtra) • Ravi-Kumar Distillery (Pondicherry) • Vinbros Dist (Pondicherry) • Mount Distillery (Sikkim) • Golden Midas Dist (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) • Shiva Distillery (Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu) • Gemini Distilleries (Tripura) Pvt Ltd (Tripura) • United Brothers Distilleries Private Limited (Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh) k • Himalayan Distillery Pvt Ltd (Nepal) ==References==