Companies belonging to Vijay Mallya-promoted UB Group are being probed by capital market regulator SEBI for the unusual price movements in their stocks.

A senior regulatory official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the regulator was concerned over the sharp price swings in the stocks of companies like United Breweries (Holdings) and United Spirits.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the UB Group admitted that the capital market regulator recently wrote to the Mallya-promoted companies with regard to the probe about unusual price movements in stocks over the last two to three months. The spokesperson also claimed that the group responded to the regulator's all queries.

The spokesperson also claimed that the unusual price swings were due to the media's wide speculation about the stocks.

In an email, the spokesperson said, "The movement in share prices of our group companies has been largely influenced by the wide speculation by the media with no comments from us."

Bangalore-headquartered UB Group has seven listed companies that have a combined market capitalization of around 37,504 crore. Stock of United Breweries (Holdings), which possesses equity stakes in United Breweries, United Spirits, and the struggling carrier Kingfisher Airlines, has jumped more than 66 per cent in the last three months.

Kingfisher Airlines hasn't paid salaries to engineers and pilots for more than seven months. The company is currently burdened with a heavy debt pile of Rs 9,000 crore.