India's Burmans plan to take controlling stake in financial services firm Religare

BENGALURU, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Burman family, which holds a controlling stake in Dabur (DABU.NS), made an open offer on Monday for an additional 26% stake in financial services company Religare for up to 21.16 billion rupees ($255.03 million), according to a filing.

The Burmans, already the largest shareholder in Religare Enterprises (RELG.NS) with a 21% stake, intend to take control of the financial services company once the open offer is concluded, the offer document showed.

\“The proposed transaction is in line with our vision to create a leading financial services platform that encompasses lending, broking and health insurance services,\” Dabur India Chairman Emeritus Anand Burman said in a statement.

The Burmans reserve the right to appoint directors to the board of Religare and require the company to implement changes in the management structure as determined by its board.

They intend to acquire more than 90 million shares at 235 rupees per share, according to the document.

Religare shares were down 1.6% in early trading. They last closed at 271.55 rupees.

($1 = 82.9700 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami

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