'We are still open to amicable resolution with Religare'

In the past few weeks, the Burman family and the Religare Enterprises board have engaged in a public spat with allegations of fraud flying thick and fast.

- Piyush Shukla and Viveat Susan Pinto

● MOHIT BURMAN, CHAIRMAN, DABUR INDIA

However, Mohit Burman, chairman, Dabur India, tells Piyush Shukla and Viveat Susan Pinto that the family is still open to an "amicable resolution". Excerpts:

How did things go wrong between the Religare management and the Burman family? 

In the last five-six years, we have stood with the company. Every time, its businesses needed capital, we pumped in money. I can say that our role as lead investors gave a lot of confidence to other shareholders who followed because of their trust in us. Even after the open offer, the Religare management sent a letter to stock exchanges expressing their gratitude and said that they will work with us to take this company to greater heights. However, as soon as we voted the chairperson back in, they did a "360-degree" turn. They said our share price of the open offer was low. After that, they made all kinds of allegations forcing us to bring out the truth through letters to exchanges.

What did you convey in the letter?

The genesis of the letter was that we had met the chairperson on September 20 to inform her that we are going to launch an open offer. She asked what we wanted from the board. We said that we want the board to continue and we will only supplement it. The chairperson, then, went ahead and sold shares on September 21 and 22. Accordingly, we thought that it is right time to send a letter to the board of Religare Enterprises about our intention. However, we did not hear back from anyone.