Singh brothers to up stake in Religare; open offer at Rs445/pc

Promoters plans to increase their stake to 65.79 per cent from the existing 57.10 per cent, Religare Enterprises (REL) said in a statement.

Religare Enterprises group COO Sachindra Nath said the open offer (for further 20 per cent stake) would begin next month and will be priced at Rs 445 a share.

Shares of Financial services providers Religare gained 8.4 per cent, or Rs 39 a piece, to close at Rs 500.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Promoters would purchase 8.03 per cent stake through a combination of preferential allotment and warrant conversion for which they will shell out Rs 500 crore.

Post-preferential allotment and warrant conversion, the the total paid-up share capital of the company would increase, diluting promoters' stake.

Further, they would purchase 5.58 per cent stake for Rs 357 crore from the public, taking their total stake purchase to over 8 per cent.

They have to announce an open offer for buying another 20 per cent as under the current regulatory norms a promoter has to make a public offer if his holding crosses 5 per cent limit a year.

"The open offer would begin next month and will be priced at Rs 445 a share. The open offer announcement will come tomorrow," Religare Enterprises Group COO Sachindra Nath said.

"The move will bolster our plans of making Religare a leading global financial services player from the emerging markets," REL Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Godhwani said.

Earlier in July the board of Religare had approved the raising of funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.