The Mumbai income tax department is conducting a search operation against Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD), a company owned by the family of India's liquor baron Kishor Chhabria, sources told Businessworld.
Chhabria is the non-executive chairman of the company and his family members together own nearly the entire stake in the company. ABD owns the brand Officer’s Choice, the world’s largest-selling whiskey brand by volume. The tax department was conducting searches at the offices of Allied Blenders and Distillers in Mumbai, the sources said.
ABD is seeking to raise around Rs 2000 crore through the company's initial public offer (IPO) and has filed documents with market regulator Sebi. This is the second effort by ABD to tap the Indian markets with its maiden IPO.
An email regarding the tax department searches sent on ABD's official emails given on the company website remained unanswered. None of the company executives could be reached for comments on the matter on any of the contact phone numbers given on the company website.
ABD was founded by Chhabria in 1988 in Kolkata. Prior to establishing ABD, he was the managing director of Shaw Wallace, an Indian liquor manufacturer based in Kolkata.