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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025

 

--HC to SEBI:Decide Danny Gaekwad's application in Religare Ent case quickly 

--Danny Gaekwad sought exemption for giving competing offer for Religare Ent 

--CONTEXT:Danny Gaekwad to SEBI: Consider competing open offer for Religare 

--HC bench refuses to stay Burman family's open offer for Religare Ent 

--HC: Religare Ent's open offer process shall be subject to court's order 

 

NEW DELHI – The division bench of the Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the Burman family's open offer to acquire additional 26% stake in Religare Enterprises Ltd. on a petition by the company's minority shareholder Sapna Govind Rao. 

 

The high court asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India to decide quickly on Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments' application seeking that the market regulator reconsider its competing offer proposal to acquire additional stake in Religare Enterprises. Danny Gaekwad Developments had also sought exemptions from SEBI for its competing offer for Religare Enterprises.

 

The high court said the open offer process would be subject to the order passed by it. The order is being passed without prejudice to the rights of any party, the court added. 

 

Minority shareholder Rao had said that Religare Enterprises' proposed takeover by the Burman family was being mishandled and the family's offer undervalued the company's shares. The Burman family's open offer is slated to be considered at the annual general meeting of Religare Enterprises on Feb. 7. On Jan. 30, declining any interim relief, Justice Manoj Jain had 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 the takeover of Religare Enterprises by Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments.

 

Rao had also sought a stay on the Burman family's acquisition of Religare Enterprises until a fair assessment was completed. A competing offer from Gaekwad Developments & Investments valued the company's shares at INR 275 per share, a 17% premium to 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, Rao had said.

 

Last month, SEBI had returned the open offer by Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments, after noting that it did not conform to the regulator's exemption application rules under the takeover code. Gaekwad had said he could not file the competing offer within the mandatory 15 days of Burman's public announcement in September 2023 as the situation was full of legal and regulatory complexities. Under the Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations, SEBI can give exemptions to any entity from making an open offer for acquiring shares, or can allow any entity to make a competing offer on certain conditions in order to protect the interests of investors and the securities market if the regulator receives an application in a certain format.

 

On Tuesday, shares of Religare Enterprises Ltd. ended 0.7% lower at INR 236.37 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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