Kedaara Capital Advisors has thrown its weight behind the management and board of Care Health Insurance, a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises (REL), which is chaired by Rashmi Saluja. The PE firm is the one of the largest investors in Care Health Insurance, formerly Religare Health Insurance Co.
This follows a similar move by REL’s board and management last week, as the takeover tussle between Burman family and the company’s management board turned murky.
“Kedaara is a proud shareholder in Care Health Insurance. Led by a best-in-class management team and guided by a strong board, the company has always had the highest standards of governance, compliance and operational excellence. We look forward to continuing to support it as it goes from strength to strength,” Kedaara Capital founder and managing partner Sunish Sharma said in an email reply to FE.
In June 2020, the PE firm had invested Rs 567.31 crore – including primary capital infusion and purchase of 6.39% stake – through Kedaara Capital Fund II in Religare Health Insurance. The transaction included Rs 300 crore of primary capital – Rs 100 crore fresh capital and an earlier commitment of Rs 200 crore – that was directly infused by Kedaara Capital into the health insurer.
Earlier, proxy advisory firm Ingovern Research Services had raised red flags against employee stock options (ESOPs) worth Rs 480 crore issued to REL and Care Health Insurance’s chairperson Rashmi Saluja, terming them as “excessive remuneration”. It had also alleged REL of regulatory breaches, non-disclosures and keeping shareholders in the dark, and sought detailed probes by the regulators.
The ESOPs of CARE of 2.27 crore valued at over Rs 250 crore, given to Saluja in January 2022, was in contravention of IRDAI regulations, which state issuance of stock options only to chief executive officers, whole-time directors and managing directors.
However, the management and board refuted all allegations and added that all the allocations were issued in accordance to laws.
Later on November 20, REL board and management had extended their support to Saluja and refuted all allegations against her, including those of insider trading. They also said that the accusations were targeted at REL’s entire management and board, which was committed to make the company “debt free” over the next five years.