Adrian McKeon, the chief executive of Cobra Beer has quit amid speculation that the company's UK business may be taken over by Milson Coors, the American brewer of Carling lager and Worthington ale, with its Indian unit being sold to US investor Wilbur Ross, says a report.

McKeon joined Cobra, founded by NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria, in 2007 after two years as managing director of Beam Global Spirits & Wine UK, part of the American drinks group that owns Jim Beam bourbon and Canadian Club whisky, UK daily 'The Times' said in a report.

Cobra beer is sold in 6,000 restaurants in the UK, with a market share of about 47 per cent of the ethnic restaurant sector, ahead of rivals including Kingfisher and Bangla. It is also sold in 6,000 pubs, bars and clubs.

Lord Bilimoria, who became an independent crossbench peer in 2006, is reckoned by the Sunday Times Rich List, published, to be worth 80 million pounds, based entirely on his holding in Cobra Beer.