The fall of Bira 91: How a simple name change sparked the collapse of India's coolest beer brand
Investor D Muthukrishnan on Friday explained in a social media post how exactly a minor change in the brand name led to its collapse, with the company's employees forcing the founder to quit.
- Oct 10, 2025,
- Updated Oct 10, 2025 12:10 PM IST
The famous playwright William Shakespeare once said, "What's in a name?". For India's coolest beer brand, Bira 91, everything rested on its name, as a slight change in its name sparked its collapse.
Investor D Muthukrishnan on Friday explained in a social media post how exactly a minor change in the brand name led to its collapse, with the company's employees forcing the founder to quit.
"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 now being forced even to exit by company employees," he wrote in a post on X (previously Twitter).
Furthermore, he stated that Bira 91's collapse began in late 2023. At this time, the company, operated by B9 Beverages Private Limited, was preparing for its long-awaited IPO.
In a bid to comply with listing norms, the company management decided to drop 'Private' and adopt B9 Beverages Limited as its name. In January 2024, the company officially changed its name with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) but the company's packaging, labels and licenses were still printed under the old name since distribution ran on existing stock.
But how did this change impact the country's coolest beer brand?
As per Muthukrishnan, "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. Google and find out. This led to one problem after another. Once a thriving company looks like may not even survive."
Due to this, distribution halted overnight, and inventory worth crores sat unsold in the company's warehouses. During July-September 2024, Bira's sales volumes went down by ~25 per cent year-on-year.
FY2024 revenue fell to around ₹638 crore from ₹824 crore in FY2023, and the company recorded a net loss of ₹748 crore, one of its worst years ever. Even though the brand finally secured renewed approvals in most states and production has restarted gradually in early 2025, Bira 91's brand momentum is lost, and the IPO plan is shelved indefinitely.
The Chennai-based investor said that the bureaucratic red tape in India led to the brand's collapse. He added that the former CEO of Diageo India, Hina Nagarajan, once said that she retained the name United Spirits instead of changing it to Diageo India Limited to avoid huge disruptions for business.
"Though what happened to Bira is extremely unfair, you've to accept the reality of India. Procedures, compliance and proper documentation are extremely important. The rules are so complex that you should never desist from taking expert advice. What you assume need not work in reality and may even go against you," he said towards the end of his post.
The famous playwright William Shakespeare once said, "What's in a name?". For India's coolest beer brand, Bira 91, everything rested on its name, as a slight change in its name sparked its collapse.
Investor D Muthukrishnan on Friday explained in a social media post how exactly a minor change in the brand name led to its collapse, with the company's employees forcing the founder to quit.
"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 now being forced even to exit by company employees," he wrote in a post on X (previously Twitter).
Furthermore, he stated that Bira 91's collapse began in late 2023. At this time, the company, operated by B9 Beverages Private Limited, was preparing for its long-awaited IPO.
In a bid to comply with listing norms, the company management decided to drop 'Private' and adopt B9 Beverages Limited as its name. In January 2024, the company officially changed its name with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) but the company's packaging, labels and licenses were still printed under the old name since distribution ran on existing stock.
But how did this change impact the country's coolest beer brand?
As per Muthukrishnan, "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. Google and find out. This led to one problem after another. Once a thriving company looks like may not even survive."
Due to this, distribution halted overnight, and inventory worth crores sat unsold in the company's warehouses. During July-September 2024, Bira's sales volumes went down by ~25 per cent year-on-year.
FY2024 revenue fell to around ₹638 crore from ₹824 crore in FY2023, and the company recorded a net loss of ₹748 crore, one of its worst years ever. Even though the brand finally secured renewed approvals in most states and production has restarted gradually in early 2025, Bira 91's brand momentum is lost, and the IPO plan is shelved indefinitely.
The Chennai-based investor said that the bureaucratic red tape in India led to the brand's collapse. He added that the former CEO of Diageo India, Hina Nagarajan, once said that she retained the name United Spirits instead of changing it to Diageo India Limited to avoid huge disruptions for business.
"Though what happened to Bira is extremely unfair, you've to accept the reality of India. Procedures, compliance and proper documentation are extremely important. The rules are so complex that you should never desist from taking expert advice. What you assume need not work in reality and may even go against you," he said towards the end of his post.