Anand Chand Burman and Mohit Burman joined the board of Eveready Industries India Ltd as non-executive directors after firms owned by their family took control of the dry cell battery maker and became the promoter.
Marketing maven Sunil Alagh, who was the managing director of Britannia Industries for 14 years, also joined as an independent director.
The recast of the Eveready board also included the induction of portfolio manager Arjun Lamba, who played a key role in the Burman family’s acquisition of Eveready, as a non-executive director.
The board recast followed the successful completion of the open offer by entities controlled by the Burman family, promoters of FMCG major Dabur India Ltd, for shares of Eveready.
The Burman firms now own a 38.3 per cent stake in Eveready. While announcing the open offer, the Burmans had expressed their desire to nominate three members to the board and also appoint the chairman.
Sources said Anand Burman may be elected as the new chairman when the expanded board meets for the first time to finalise the first quarter results under three weeks from now.
Anand Burman, 70, who completed high school at St. Paul’s School in Darjeeling, is a member of the fifth generation of the Dabur group’s founder family and took charge as the chairman of Dabur India in 2007 after holding the post of vice-chairman.
He stepped down as chairman in 2019, paving the way for Amit Burman to succeed him. Anand’s cousin Mohit Burman, who spearheaded the Eveready acquisition, is now the vice-chairman of Dabur and is tipped to be the next chairman of the FMCG company in future.
Even though the Burman family, which has its roots in Bengal, had become the largest shareholder of Eveready from July 2020, pipping the Khaitan family of Calcutta, they did not join the board.
They decided to come on board only after the conclusion of the open offer which allowed them to take control and be classified as the promoter.
Williamson Magor The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the certificate of registration of Williamson Magor & Co Ltd. to carry on the business of a non-banking financial company.
