(Reuters) -United Spirits, the Indian arm of liquor company Diageo, said on Monday that HT Media boss Praveen Someshwar would join the company as managing director and CEO, effective April 1.
Someshwar will replace Hina Nagarajan, who after four years at the helm, is set to transition into a role on Diageo’s global executive committee, the company said.
Someshwar has been CEO of HT Media, the owner of the Hindustan Times national daily, for five years. Prior to that, he worked with PepsiCo for 24 years, where he held a number of senior roles in various divisions.
The leadership change at United Spirits comes at a time when Diageo and its Indian unit, have faced scrutiny from federal and local investigative agencies due to allegations of suspicious payments, and other irregularities, that pre-dated Nagarajan’s tenure at the helm of the company.
United Spirits said Someshwar will join the company on March 1, and formally takeover from Nagarajan a month later following the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Anil D’Silva)
