Religare Denies Burmans' Allegations Against Chairperson As 'Far From Truth'

Religare Enterprises Ltd. on Thursday launched an attack on Burmans saying recent misleading information shared in the public domain by them is not only far from the truth but can best be described as false claims without evidence.

The Burman family on Wednesday called for an investigation into the allotment of an 8% share of Religare Finvest Ltd. to Religare Enterprises Chairman Rashmi Saluja through employee stock ownership plans.

Terming the allotment "unfortunate," the Burman family, the largest shareholder of REL, in which it collectively owns 21.24% through its entities, said the process "raises a question mark on the management and the independence of the independent directors' of the diversified financial services firm."

In a rebuttal to Burman family allegations, the REL board and the independent directors, in a statement, said, "The recent misleading information shared in the public domain by the Burmans is not only far from the truth but can best be described as false claims without evidence. Such misinformation impacts shareholder value and erodes confidence in Indian corporate ethics and must be dealt with immediately with the highest level of urgency."

REL is a professionally managed company governed by the regulators of the country with the deepest of scrutiny, the statement said, adding, "We must trust the regulators and the process and allow the company to operate to its full potential."

Such misleading information disrupts the operations of the company and misleads the stakeholders, impacting the share value of the company, it said.

Any person or persons should refrain from making any such statements without fact-checking, it added.

Observing that Religare is at an inflection point due to the efforts of the board and the management over the last five years, it said, a one-time settlement of Religare Finvest Ltd was completed through organic collections and payments of more than Rs 9,000 crore made to the country's banking system.

As a result of the overall growth of all businesses, it said, the company's market cap has remarkably increased to about $1 billion from a low of under $100 million in March 2018.

The spat between the Burman family and REL started soon after the family through its entities, in September announced a Rs 2,116 crore open offer to the shareholders of the financial services company to acquire a controlling stake in the firm.