Heineken is likely to ask Vijay Mallya, who owes creditor banks more than $1bn , to step down from the board of United Breweries, India’s largest brewer.

Diageo is in talks to acquire a stake in Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya’s United Spirits Ltd, reviving an on-again, off-again courtship that would ramp up its presence in the world’s largest whiskey market.

An Indian billionaire today completed the €868m takeover of Scotch whiskey distiller Whyte & Mackay.