United Spirits Ltd (USL), India's largest spirits producer, gained as much as 3 per cent to more than Rs 2625 in early trade on Friday, a day after British spirits giant Diageo Plc announced that it had completed the acquisition of a further 14.98 per cent stake in the Indian company.

Diageo on Thursday announced that it acquired another 14.98 per cent stake in USL for nearly Rs 3,134 crore (£344.2M), hiking its stake in the company to 25.02 per cent.

Diageo Chief Executive Ivan Menezes said, "USL's strong market-leading position combined with Diageo's strength and capabilities opens an exciting and important new chapter for Diageo in the attractive Indian spirits market."

United Breweries Chairman Vijay Mallya said he was pleased on the completion of the share purchase agreement, and added that he was looking forward to play its part in the remaining part of that journey.

The British spirits maker Diageo paid Rs 1,440 a share to acquire the recent stake and funded the deal through its existing cash resources as well as debt.

The announcement encouraged investors, who pushed the stock to its record high of Rs 2625.95 apiece. On July 2012, the stock had slipped to as low as Rs 697.45 apiece.

Over the past one month, the stock outperformed the market. It gained 1.55 per cent, while Sensex suffered a decline of 0.69 per cent.