Delhi High Court allows Burman family's open offer for Religare

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the Burman family's open offer for acquiring a stake in Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL). While allowing the public offer process to proceed, the court made it clear that the offer will be subject to the final outcome of ongoing proceedings.

Earlier, a minority shareholder of Religare Enterprises had filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court single judge's order that had refused to halt the Burman family's open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in the company from public shareholders.

In another key aspect of the ruling, the court directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India to expedite its decision on the application filed by businessman Danny Gaekwad. Gaekwad, who is proposing a competing open offer for REL, has urged SEBI to consider his proposal without delay.


The single judge had also declined to stay REL's annual general meeting (AGM), scheduled for February 7, which was an interim relief sought by Bangkok-based minority investor Sapna Govind Rao.

In addition to seeking the quashing of the Reserve Bank of India's conditional approval, granted on December 9 to the Burman family (which owns Dabur) for the acquisition of REL, Rao, who owned 500 shares in the financial services firm, had requested a stay on the acquisition until a fair assessment could be completed.

On January 30, Justice Manoj Jain had refused to stay the AGM and halt the Burmans' takeover.

(Inputs from Indu Bhan)