Burmans vs Religare: The Burman family's planned open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent stake in Religare Enterprises has reportedly received approval from the market watchdog, Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India).
This comes just weeks after the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) gave its clearance regarding the offer made by the promoters of Dabur, as per a report by the Economic Times.
For Religare's management, headed by chairperson Rashmi Saluja, things might get difficult ahead as the Burman family has received approval from nearly all custodians. Be it IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India), CCI (Competition Commission of India), RBI and now finally Sebi, all the clearances are now in place for the open offer.
Sources cited in the report said that the Burman family is likely to announce its offer in the coming days. The open offer has the potential to bring-in a major shift in the management control of the NBFC(non-banking finance company).
Last year, the Burman family, the largest shareholder in the NBFC with a holding stake of around 25 per cent, revealed its plans for the open offer. This was largely aimed at increasing the controlling stake in the company.
Burman Family vs Religare
While the core issue of the business battle remains over the valuation concern and control of Religare, the feud initially began in 2018 when the promoters of Fortis Healthcare, Ranbaxy Laboraties and Religare were accused of financial fraud.
This pushed the company to bring-in a transition in the company's board and hence Rashmi Saluja, who is both a doctor and a lawyer, came in the picture.
However, as the boardroom changed, the Burman family steadily started increasing its controlling stake in the company. From 9.9 per cent in 2018 to 21.57 per cent in 2023, the stake rose sharply.
But a major breakpoint came after the promotors of the FMCG giant proposed an additional 5.27 per cent, which took their stake to over 25 per cent.
As for now, the Burman family has made an offer to buy more shares in the company, priced at Rs 235 per share. The total value of this offer is Rs 2,116 crore. If the proposal comes to fruition, their overall stake in the NBFC will increase to more than 50 per cent, and hence the majority control will fall in their hands.
