HC refuses to stay Religare Ent's AGM, Burman family's open offer
This story was originally published at 16:28 IST on 30 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stay Religare Enterprises Ltd.'s annual general meeting scheduled for Feb. 7, on a petition by the company's minority shareholder Sapna Govind Rao, and also refused to halt the Burman family's open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in the company. The petitioner had said that Religare Enterprises' proposed takeover by the Burman family was being mishandled and the family's offer undervalues the company's shares. The Burman family's open offer was slated to be considered in the annual general meeting.
Declining any interim relief, Justice Manoj Jain said that the reasons given by Rao were not sufficient. The court was hearing the petition by Rao seeking direction to the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India to evaluate the competing offer for Religare Enterprises takeover by Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments, Florida.
Rao had also sought a stay on the Burman family's acquisition of Religare Enterprises until a fair assessment was completed. Rao had requested the high court to stay the annual general meeting to prevent any resolutions being passed.
Rao has contested the Reserve Bank of India's conditional approval to the Burman family for the acquisition of Religare Enterprises. Rao asked the court to quash the central bank's approval last month.
A competing offer from Gaekwad Developments & Investments had valued the company's shares at INR 275 per share, which was a 17% premium over the Burman family's offer of INR 235 per share. This necessitated a reconsideration of the acquisition process to protect the interests of minority shareholders, said Rao. "The Competing Offer presents a higher valuation of REL shares, thereby prioritising and advancing the financial interests of minority shareholders, including the Petitioner," said Rao.
The counsel for SEBI told the court that communications from Gaekwad Developments & Investments have already been returned, meaning that the competing offer is no longer in play. Therefore, Rao's application to stay the AGM has become infructuous, said the SEBI's counsel. The court will hear the case next on Feb. 18.
Shares of Religare Enterprises closed 2.5% lower at INR 239.50 on the National Stock Exchange. End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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