Burmans of Dabur finally take control of Religare

MUMBAI: After an 18-month struggle, the Burmans of Dabur have finally taken control of Religare Enterprises, strengthening their position in financial services. As a result of this transition, they have gone from being public shareholders to promoters of Religare.
With their current ownership of 25.2% in the company, they have secured a significant threshold that enables them to implement special resolutions. However, if they want to increase their stake in Religare to over 26%, they will require approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
Although the Burmans have taken control of Religare, they have not yet nominated their representatives to the financial services company's board. Previously, their four proposed directors - Arjun Lamba, Abhay Agarwal, Ramanathan Gurumurthy and Suresh Mahalingam - did not have approval from the RBI.
Lamba is a confidant of Dabur chairman Mohit Burman and a director of Eveready Industries. A Burman Group spokesperson said: "We are pleased to announce that we have acquired control of Religare and been designated as its promoters...Our priority is to instil stability, strengthen governance and drive sustainable growth at Religare." The Burmans will need to submit new names of directors or resubmit earlier recommended names, to ensure they meet the criteria of RBI, for approval from regulator to join the board of Religare.