Fall Of Bira 91: How A Name Change Led To Beer Brand's Dramatic Collapse

A minor legal name change to the parent company of the Bira 91 beer brand has triggered a cascade of regulatory and operational hurdles for the venture. Over 250 employees of B9 Beverages, the company behind Bira 91, have petitioned for the removal of founder Ankur Jain, citing governance issues, delayed salaries and unpaid vendor bills, according to The Economic Times.

Name Change Triggers Chaos

The trouble began when the company altered its legal name from B9 Beverages Private Limited to B9 Beverages Limited in 2023/24, removing the word "Private." The change had far-reaching consequences.

Investor D Muthukrishnan wrote in a post on X: "Bira 91 was one of the successful start-up stories of the last decade. It is a popular craft beer brand. They were growing so well. Reality is stranger than what you can imagine. A procedural goof-up has led to the whole company collapsing, and the founder is now being forced to exit by company employees."

He added: "All hell then broke loose. All the states immediately banned the sale of Bira 91, treating the new name as a different entity. They demanded fresh legal approvals, label approvals, product registrations and fresh licenses for every single variant. This led to one problem after another."

Muthukrishnan drew a parallel to Diageo India, noting that the company retained the name United Spirits instead of switching to Diageo India Limited to avoid similar disruptions.

Bira 91 was one of the successful start-up stories of last decade. It is a popular craft beer brand. They were growing so well. Reality is strange than what you can imagine. A procedural goof up has lead to whole company being collapsing and the founder now being forced even to…

— D.Muthukrishnan (@dmuthuk) October 10, 2025

Mounting Losses

Bureaucratic hurdles proved costly. Though the name change appeared minor, it triggered a months-long halt in sales, forcing B9 Beverages to write off around Rs 80 crore in inventory while registering new product labels, according to ET. Compliance delays caused a 22% drop in sales and a 68% rise in losses for the financial year 2023-24, with the company reporting a net loss of Rs 748 crore, exceeding its total revenue of Rs 638 crore.

Executives familiar with the matter revealed that production came to a halt in July, reported ET. Prospective investor BlackRock, which was holding talks to infuse Rs 500 crore of debt into the promoter group, reportedly withdrew later.

Employee Dues, Operational Hurdles

Responding to the employees' petition, Jain said the company has not received any formal communication from the petitioners or the shareholders. He also admitted to overdue employee payments. "It is true that we have employee overdues that have been persisting. These range between three and five months, depending on the level of employees, and include a delay in payments of tax dues as well," he said.

Jain described the past 18 months as particularly challenging due to "significant business disruptions" caused by the name change, liquor policy shifts and delays in fundraising. He said the company has attempted to mitigate these issues by restructuring operations, concentrating on select states, and improving margins.