Dabur keen to acquire 26% stake in Religare for Rs 2,116 cr

Entities belonging to the Burman family, the promoter of Dabur India, on Monday announced a Rs 2,116 crore open offer to shareholders of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) to acquire up to an additional 26 per cent stake in the company as part of its strategy to enter the financial services space.

Post the open offer, the family's stake in the financial services firm is expected to increase to 51 per cent.

The open offer is made to increase the family's stake and take control of REL and this will mark the entry of Burmans into the financial services space.

Dabur group is already present in life insurance space through the joint venture with Aviva International Holdings Ltd, a UK-based insurance group.

Last year, Aviva plc acquired an additional 25 per cent stake from Dabur Invest Corp in its joint venture Aviva Life Insurance Company India to raise its total stake to 74 per cent.

"The proposed transaction is in line with our vision to create a leading financial services platform that encompasses lending, broking and health insurance services.

"We are convinced that REL is the right platform and positioned for sustained success," Dabur India chairman Emeritus Anand C Burman said.

The completion of the open offer is subject to receipt of statutory approvals required to be set out in the detailed public statement and the letter of offer that are proposed to be issued in accordance with the Sebi (SAST) Regulations, Dabur said in a statement.

MB Finmart Private Ltd (Acquirer 1), Puran Associates Private Ltd (Acquirer 2), VIC Enterprises Private Ltd (Acquirer 3), and Milky Investment & Trading Company (Acquirer 4) have announced an open offer for acquisition of up to 90,042,541 fully paid-up equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each from the public shareholders of the company, REL said in a regulatory filing.

This represents 26 per cent of the expanded voting share capital of the firm, at a price of Rs 235 per unit, it said.

The total consideration for the open offer is Rs 21,159,997,135 payable in cash, it said.

JM Financial Ltd acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the acquirers and shall act as the manager to the open offer, it said.

The REL board said the acquirers are existing significant shareholders of the company and have had an impeccable reputation and exemplary standing in the industry over these years.

"We view this intention of acquisition of control in the company as a positive step, reflective of the strong business platform on which the company stands.

"We are confident that this step will be a catalyst in strengthening the position of the company which will continue to achieve greater heights in the industry under the leadership and control of the acquirers," it said.

Following the announcement, shares of Religare Enterprises tanked 7 per cent on the stock exchanges.

The stock plunged 7.08 per cent to settle at Rs 253.15 on the BSE. During the day, it cracked 7.83 per cent to Rs 251.10.

At the NSE, it fell 6.79 per cent to end at Rs 253.10.

In traded volume terms, 2.75 lakh shares of the company were traded at the BSE and over 43.79 lakh shares at the NSE during the day.