(Reuters) – United Spirits, the Indian arm of alcohol maker Diageo, said on Monday its CEO Hina Nagarajan will step down effective March 31, and will be replaced by Praveen Someshwar, the chief executive of HT Media.
Someshwar, who will take office from April 1, will also serve as CEO designate from a month prior to the official appointment, United Spirits said.
Someshwar held the top post at HT Media, the owner of the Hindustan Times national daily, for five years after a 24-year stint at PepsiCo where he worked in a variety of roles ranging from finance to management.
The leadership change comes after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged last week that Diageo, which owns about 56% of United Spirits, made a suspicious payment to an Indian lawmaker to attain favourable decisions.
The investigation is part of a formal case registered against the UK-based Diageo, following a 2018 investigation into investment approvals.
Separately, Nagarajan was also summoned last year as a witness by New Delhi’s anti-corruption police investigating billing and discount practices involving government agencies running liquor retail shops between 2017 and 2020.
Nagarajan did not appear before police but Diageo, through company representatives, submitted many documents that were sought from the three-year period, Reuters reported last August.
Nagarajan joined the company as CEO designate in April 2021, and took over as managing director and chief executive two months later.
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
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