Religare Withdraws NCLAT Petition Against CCI Order
Religare Withdraws NCLAT Petition Against CCI Order
It enables the Burman Group entities to acquire a 5.27 percent stake in the company
Religare Enterprises has withdrawn its appeal at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Through their investment firms, the Burmans gained a controlling stake in Religare after acquiring 25.16 percent of equity shares through an open offer.
Their total holding exceeds 50 percent, making them the largest shareholders. The family, which also owns FMCG firm Dabur and Eveready, consolidates their position as the largest shareholders in the company.
The appellate tribunal stated that since the appeal was withdrawn, all pending applications were also disposed of.
The four Burman family-owned entities made parties before the NCLAT are - Puran Associates Private Ltd, VIC Enterprises Pvt Ltd, MB Finmart Pvt Ltd and Milky Investment & Trading Company.
In February, Religare’s executive chairperson Rashmi Saluja was ousted as director by the shareholders, after the Burman family acquired a controlling stake in the company. The board directed the subsidiary companies to initiate the process to remove her from their respective companies.
However, under Saluja’s regime, Religare challenged the CCI order before the NCLAT.
It contended that no notice under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act was given prior to the purchase. It was given after the acquisition and non-issuance of the notice under Section 6(2) on the fourth acquisition, which the CCI did not consider.
However, the Burmans stated that a notice under Section 6(2) was only required to see if such a combination would adversely affect the competition.
Section 6 (2) states that any person or enterprise, proposing to enter a combination, shall give notice to the CCI. It would disclose the details within 30 days of the proposal’s approval relating to merger and execution of any agreement or document for acquisition.
