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Just two days after the Burmans, promoters of Dabur India, announced an open offer for acquiring an additional 26 per cent in Eveready Industries for ₹605 crore, the chairman and managing director of the company tendered their resignations from the board.
In a filing to stock exchanges, Eveready said, Aditya Khaitan, non- executive director and chairman and Amritanshu Khaitan, managing director, have tendered their resignations from the board effective March 3 “to enable the company to benefit from new leadership and direction.”
“The board at its meeting held today, has taken the same on record with deep regret and noted and accepted the above resignations, effective the said date and consequent upon the said resignation of the managing director, the board has requested Suvamoy Saha, joint managing director of the company, to assume the responsibilities as the managing director, till such time the same is taken on record by the board on the recommendation of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee, at its meetings to be convened shortly,” the company said in a stock market filing.
As on December 31, the promoters’ shareholding in Eveready was at 4.84 per cent. Burmans hold 19.84 per cent stake at present. The mandatory open offer under the takeover regulations was made as the Burmans, already the single largest shareholder in Williamson Magor group flagship Eveready, proposed to purchase an additional 5.26 per cent share for around ₹122 crore, taking their total shareholding to 25.11 per cent.
Post announcing the open offer, the Burmans had expressed their intent to “professionalise” the management and consolidate the company’s market leadership in the dry cell business.
MD’s letter to the board
In a letter to the board members, Amritanshu Khaitan, wrote, “As the largest shareholders of the company, the Burman Family have expressed their interest to take management control of your company and give new leadership and direction to the company, it would be appropriate for me to step down from the board. I have and continue to believe in the intrinsic value of Brand Eveready and the vast distribution network your company enjoys. I will continue to be a long term stakeholder in the company and participate in the future growth plans of the company.”
He further said that he was stepping down from the board on a “strong footing” with the company having achieved its highest ever operating profits last year, despite the challenges posed by Covid-19.
“Going forward I hope the new leadership will deliver greater success in terms of higher topline and bottomline growth for your company and create significant value for all stakeholders of the company,” he said.
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