Investment vehicles owned by Amit Burman and Saket Burman, both members of the Burman family that own a majority stake in Dabur India Ltd, sold approximately 1% of their shares on Tuesday morning, raising over Rs 1000 crore.
It is estimated that each of Amit Burman and Saket Burman sold half a per cent of the company, according to an individual with knowledge of the development.
The block deal data was not updated on the stock exchanges till press time on Monday evening.
After touching an intra-day low of Rs 569.40, Dabur India shares recovered to close at Rs 579.85 per share, shedding 1.51% from its Monday close.
“The purpose of doing this transaction is to raise funds for financing some ventures in private hands of the Burman family,” the company said in an exchange filing.
Amit Burman, non-executive director at Dabur, sold his shares through his vehicle Gyan Enterprises Pvt Ltd and is expected to invest the bulk of his proceeds in his restaurant venture Lite Bite Foods, according to two people with knowledge of the development. “It will be for organic expansion,” one of the persons cited above said. Saket Burman, the vice-chairman of Dabur India Ltd, sold his shares via investment vehicle Chowdry Associates.
LiteBite Foods operates around 150 food and beverage outlets, across malls, airports, and hotels, according to its website. Its brands include Punjab Groll, Tres, Zambar, The Artful Baker and Asia 7.
“There are multiple other ventures that family members operate together, and the proceeds could be invested there,” the second person cited above said.
“He (Saket) has a number of investments in UAE and is also an adviser on a number of entrepreneurial and angel investing groups,” the person added. Amit and Saket Burman did not respond to separate requests for comments.
The Burman family has been building a diverse portfolio of assets across financial services, industrials and the investments ecosystem, outside the Dabur corporate balance sheet.
The Burmans also have a 26% stake in Aviva Life Insurance Company India through Dabur Invest Corp,
In July 2022, they became promoters of Kolkata-based battery and flash light maker Eveready Industries. The Burman Family Holdings is one of the investors in financial services firm Religare Enterprises Ltd.
Other unlisted investments include Amit Burman-promoted Nature’s Bounty, Anand and Gaurav Burman promoted Health Care At Home. Mohit Burman owns a significant stake in Punjab Kings Indian Premier League team. Anand Burman has also invested in cancer and diagnostics lab Oncquest Laboratories. The Burmans also earlier anchored the private equity fund Asian Healthcare Fund.