Burmans acquire 14.3% stake in Eveready Industries through open offer

The Burman family – promoters of Dabur India – have acquired 14.3 per cent shares in Eveready Industries India, the country’s largest dry cell battery maker, in an open offer that concluded on Thursday.

With this, Burmans’ holding in the company stands at 38.3 per cent. Mohit Burman, who has been spearheading the family's investment in Eveready, said that the open offer had concluded.

“Our shareholding has now gone to 38.3 per cent. We are happy with the outcome. We got 14.3 per cent shares in the offer,” he said.

The offer opened on June 3 and closed on Thursday.

In February, the Burmans had given J M Financial Services a mandate to acquire 5.26 per cent in Eveready at a price not more than Rs 320 a piece – same as the open offer price – and announced an intent to take control of the company.

The purchase order coupled with Burmans’ decision had triggered the open offer for an additional 26 per cent in line with the Takeover Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), as it could breach the threshold limit of 25 per cent. The Burman holding in Eveready had then stood at 19.84 per cent.

In accordance with the mandate given to J M Financial, the Burmans secured 3.98 per cent between April 13 and May 26, an update on the offer mentioned earlier in the month.

The completion of the open offer is expected to pave the way for the next move in Eveready. At the time of proposing the open offer, the Burman Group had said that it intends to be a promoter on acquiring control of Eveready.

The Khaitans – who acquired Eveready (then Union Carbide) in 1993 beating the Wadias of Bombay Dyeing – are the existing promoters of Eveready. But their grip over the company had been slipping over the last two years with the holding down to 4.90 per cent as of March 2022.