Religare Enterprises shares tank 5%; stock exchange seeks clarification

Shares of Religare Enterprises Ltd tanked nearly 5 per cent in Wednesday's trade, with stock exchanges seeking a clarification on report suggesting the Burmans believed the recent FIR was a bid to block the Religare acquisition.

The stock fell 4.63 per cent to hit a low of Rs 211.05 on BSE. Dabur Group Chairman Mohit Burman and Director Gaurav Burman were among 31 people that were named as accused in an FIR filed by the Mumbai Police in the Mahadev betting app case. A spokesperson for the Burman family suggested that the FIR was "patently false and baseless," adding that "Nothing could be further from the truth than as wrongly stated in the FIR."

A Burman Family's spokesperson said the family was shocked at the “arm twisting” moves, which s/he said were grossly illegal. The spokesperson noted that the copy of the FIR that was being circulated in the media, alleging that Mohit Burman and Gaurav Burman were directly related to some of the accused.

"Curiously, the FIR comes at a time when the Burman Family has sought to increase its existing shareholding of 21.24 per cent in Religare Enterprises and launched a legitimate open offer under the SEBI Takeover Code. As part of this the Burman Family brought to the notice of the Board and the regulators certain governance issues being perpetrated by Dr. Rashmi Saluja, the current Chairman," it said.

This FIR is nothing but a step provoked by vested interests in an attempt to block the acquisition of Religare Enterprises Limited by Burman Family.

Nevertheless, we remain resolute that we will proceed with our acquisition of Religare Enterprises as contemplated.

Religare Enterprises in another clarification said it became aware of the open offer by the Burman group companies upon receipt of an email on Monday, September 25 from JM Financial for acquisition of up to 26 per cent of the expanded voting share capital of the Target company, at a price of Rs 235 per share.

Based on the confirmations received from the designated persons in the company, none of them were aware of the said announcement, it said.

"Regarding the alleged meeting of representative of Burman family and Dr. Saluja on September 20, 2023, it is stated that Dr. Saluja has categorically denied the fact that she was informed of the proposed open offer during the meeting," it said.

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