NEW DELHI: The Burman family, promoters of Dabur India, have picked up a significant 8.48 per cent stake in the country’s largest dry cell battery, Eveready Industries. The transaction has been initiated through Guardian Advisors, the Kolkata-based company said in a statement to the exchanges.
Guardian Advisors, a SEBI-registered portfolio management firm owned by Arjun Lamba and others, manages the investment for the Burmans, among others. The investments in Eveready were made by the promoter family in their personal capacities to acquire an additional 50 lakh shares, but has nothing to do with the listed Dabur entity. “It is a personal investment by the Burman family and is unrelated to Dabur,” said Mohit Burman, vice-chairman, Dabur India.
This acquisition makes Burman family the largest strategic investor in Eveready Industries holding 19.84 per cent equity stake in the company under various client accounts. The companies on behalf of which acquisitions were made in Eveready are M B Finmart, Puran Associates, VIC Enterprises Ltd, Chowdry Associates and Gyan Enterprises - all owned by various members of the Burman family. The ownership of the assets was with the clients and Guardian Advisors have the “power of attorney” on behalf of its clients, Guardian said in a regulatory filing.
Incidentally, the portfolio management firm has for quite some time now been steadily buying shares of the Khaitan-family controlled Eveready Industries. Over the last few months, it has picked up 11.35 per cent stake and on Tuesday, it announced a further increase in stake by another 8.48 per cent. Fresh stake pick-up was done through open market purchases on July 14.
For Eveready, high debt has been a major concern. It has been trying to pare debt of around Rs 400 crore through asset monetisation. Recently, the battery maker has hived off its loss-making packet tea business in order to focus on its core business of batteries, lighting and small appliances. The company also sold its surplus lands in Chennai and Hyderabad to pare debt, for about Rs 200 crore.