Shares of Religare Enterprises surged nearly 4% in early trade on Friday after the exit of chairperson Rashmi Saluja as she did not get approval from shareholders for her re-appointment. The company has appointed Praveen Kumar Tripathi as chairperson as Saluja ceases to be a non-independent director effective from February 7, 2025.

Extending previous session gains, Religare Enterprises shares rose as much as 3.6% to ₹247.30 in the first hour of trade on the BSE. The NBFC stock opened 0.6% higher at ₹240 against the previous closing price of ₹238.60 apiece. The stock has risen nearly 6% in two sessions after losing 7.5% in the previous three sessions.

At the time of reporting, shares of Religare Enterprises were up 1% at ₹241.05, with a market capitalisation of ₹7,969 crore. The counter touched its 52-week high of ₹319.90 on December 17, 2024, and a 52-week low of ₹201 on June 4, 2024.

In an exchange filing last evening, Religare said that Rashmi Saluja ceased to be the director of the company after a vote at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on February 7, 2025, due to her failure to receive requisite votes on the resolution for her re-appointment. The company confirmed her cessation following a regulatory clarification from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The development came amid her ongoing legal battle with the Burman family, who are in the process to acquire an additional 26% stake in the company. Currently, the Burman family entities own 25% stake in Religare Enterprises and is the largest shareholder of the company. With the open offer, their stake in REL would increase to 53.94%. The high-stakes battle for the control of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) has taken another twist with Florida-based businessman Danny Gaekwad getting an extension from the Supreme Court to deposit ₹ 600 crore for his competing offer to acquire a stake in the company. On February 7, the SC had extended by 5 days the time for Burman family's open offer for an additional stake in REL.

Praveen Kumar Tripathi appointed as Chairperson 

Meanwhile, the company appointed Praveen Kumar Tripathi, a Non-Executive Independent Director, as the Chairperson of the company until June 30, 2025. The board approved the appointment at its meeting held on February 11, 2025.

“The Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on February 11, 2025 (commenced at 04:25 P.M. and concluded at 05:03) have inter-alia appointed Mr. Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Non-Executive Independent Director of the company as the Chairperson of the company until June 30, 2025," Religare Enterprises said in a BSE filing.

As per the resolution passed at the meeting, the directors of the company will be appointed as the chairperson of the company on a rotational basis to hold office for a calendar quarter and the first chairperson will be Praveen Kumar Tripathi and will hold office until June 30, 2025.

“The Board may discuss the chronology in which the Directors will take the Chair subsequently,” the release noted.

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