The Securities and Exchange Board of India had started investigations into the reasons for the volatile stock price movements in UB group companies.

UBHL holds 18.03 per cent stake in USL and would have been the chief beneficiary had Mallya managed to clinch a deal with Diageo.

But research firms such as Macquarie and CNI Global had already cautioned investors against betting too high on USL as the risk-reward ratio was unfavourable after the rally in share price.

The stake of institutional shareholders in the company has gone up from 3.37 per cent at the beginning of this year to 24.8 per cent in June.

While LIC's shareholding has remained unchanged at 1.17 per cent in UBHL during this period, Birla Sun Life Trustee Company, Platinum Investment Management, ACACIA Banyan Partners and LKP Finance are the players who have picked up the majority of stake in the company.