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Mumbai: Shares offered in the Vodafone Idea follow on public offer (FPO) listed at ₹11.8 apiece on the NSE on Thursday, about 7.3% above the FPO price of ₹11. The shares were listed at ₹12 on BSE and closed at ₹13.8, after a gain of 5.3%. Thursday was also the day when the highest ever quantity of Vodafone Idea shares were traded. After the offer, the company's market capitalisation was at ₹91,747.17 crore on Thursday. "A lot of HNIs and retail investors had subscribed to the FPO with an arbitrage point of view," said Jimeet Modi, founder, Samco Securities. "They have locked their gains and booked profits and moved on from the company."Vodafone Idea's ₹18,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO), India's biggest, closed successfully earlier this week having been subscribed 7 times, with strong demand from global institutional investors. Vodafone Idea had priced the issue at ₹10-11 a share, a 26% discount to the ₹14.87 a share that was recently set for the preferential issue to one of the promoters. Jimeet Modi said that about 60-70% of the investors put money only from the short-term perspective and the rest 20-30% of retail investors aimed to hold for a longer period.The FPO had the highest subscription of 19.31 times from Qualified Institutional Buyers and 4.54 times from non-institutional investors. The retail portion was also fully subscribed. It had also raised ₹5,400 crore via anchor investors.

Rashmi Saluja, executive chairperson, Religare Enterprises, said she is confident of her performance and won't retreat under 'false' allegations made by the Burman family, the leading shareholder seeking majority control of the financial company, as she has the full support of the board and is proud of her turnaround credentials evidenced through what she described as a tough phase for non-bank lenders."I may have agreed that five years ago, I didn't have the experience, but after five years, three successful businesses, a company turnaround and a great team and board to support me, I will not back down," Saluja told ET in an interview. "Any allegations of corporate governance against the board and the management are directly reflected toward the regulators. Our naysayers need to understand that."The board of Religare Enterprises is in a tussle with members of the Burman family, the promoters of Dabur, who have accused Saluja of insider trading by selling shares of the company immediately before the announcement of an open offer on September 25, 2023. The Burman family has gradually been raising its stake in Religare Enterprises over the past five years - from 9.9% in 2018 to 14% in 2021, with another 7.5% and 5.27% in 2023. The stakes automatically triggered an open offer to the minority shareholders. Full subscription to the offer would automatically give majority control of the company to the Burmans.The Burman family has accused Religare's existing management, including Saluja, and the board of lapses in corporate governance. It has alleged that Saluja violated insider trading laws by selling shares of the financial services company immediately before the announcement of the open offer. The Burmans have also sought an investigation into the allotment of 8% shares of Religare Finvest to Religare Enterprises chairman Saluja through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), arguing the process "raises a question mark on the management and the independence of the independent directors" of Religare.The independent directors of Religare, meanwhile, have levelled allegations of fraud and other breaches against the Burmans with different economic regulators - the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - on the takeover process.Saluja denied all allegations of insider trading and manipulation in stock awards and compensation.Transparency claims"As an industry, we are strictly governed and monitored by the regulators. All transactions, either ESOPs or otherwise, must be approved by the regulators," she said. "Not once during the five years was any complaint raised to Sebi or any regulator. The moot question to ask is, why now?"Saluja joined as additional non-executive independent director on December 20, 2018. Later, she was appointed the non-executive independent chairperson. The board, on December 10, 2019, designated her as the executive chairperson. The appointment proposal was subsequently approved by the RBI."We have denied the allegations of insider trading...Exercising listed stock options by employees requires prior approvals. The process involves financing from external lenders as well as approvals for pledging financing or revocation and eventual sale," she said. "The process for ESOP exercise... was set in motion several weeks before the information on the open offer we received formally through newspapers. Moreover, the share sale proceeds were utilised to invest in additional ESOPs of Religare Group entities only. We wish to remain invested in the company and continue to push for growth."She brushed aside allegations by the Burman family that Religare had applauded the takeover bid before rejecting it. "The board initially considered the Burmans' takeover bid as per Sebi's directive. However, as per the responsibility of a well-governed board, subsequent assessments were made, wherein many aberrations were found in the submission. We shared our comments with regulators," Saluja added. "We cited concerns for investigation on matters concerning market manipulation, funding sources, and inconsistencies in statements made to the BSE."Religare Enterprises is expanding fast with a firm focus on delivering value to stakeholders, she said. "We have a robust growth plan for the company. The board and the current management, having turned around the company, have worked on credible long-term growth plans, which have been vetted by marquee third-party experts," Saluja said. "Our vision is to develop a comprehensive risk management framework.Overcoming the oddsShe lauded the efforts made by her colleagues to turn around the company when several other lenders and financiers, such as Dewan Housing Finance, Yes Bank, IL&FS and Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital, needed either special dispensations, bailouts or administrative buyouts for survival."We have a positive net worth, which has given confidence in our investors, such as Kedaara Capital and Union Bank, to continue to be invested and supportive of the management and the team behind this success," Saluja said. "Three out of four businesses - health insurance, broking, and housing finance - have been consistently profitable and growing."Religare Finvest, the MSME financing arm, has completed an industry-first settlement with all its lenders and the fraud tag has been removed, she added. It is now business-ready with a net worth of more than ₹700 crore. "The board and the current management have been at the helm for more than five years and are in the best position to guide the company to catapult to the next growth phase," she added.

An increasing number of large Indian companies, conglomerates and family-owned businesses are discreetly keeping their CEOs, CXOs and key managerial personnel (KMPs) under watch by commissioning ongoing background screening, said top executives at advisory firms, background verification companies, board members and lawyers. There's been a near-six-fold jump in demand for such verification with a push from promoters and boards prompted by a stricter focus on corporate governance, greater fraud risk perception, the threat of greater legal liabilities for companies and a tougher regulatory environment. Apart from avoiding any reputational damage, companies also want to make sure executives are doing their jobs to the best of their ability.Companies are seeking a 360-degree view, said one of the persons cited. This includes regular criminal record checks, regulatory database perusal, examining social media presence and comments, any sexual misconduct and signs that someone is living beyond their means. Screening can also extend to family issues such as property disputes or even marital discord as a factor that could impact a person's ability to perform, said industry insiders.109603185"In the last six to 12 months particularly we have seen a surge in demand for ongoing screening of CXOs and key managerial personnel," said Ajay Trehan, CEO of AuthBridge, one of the largest background verification firms.The cost of a CXO background screening would be anywhere between ₹1.5 lakh and ₹7 lakh and will depend on how deep the investigators have to delve, according to the people cited above."Focus is more on senior professionals in sensitive functions such as finance, procurement, M&A, operations, among others, to keep a continuous watch on any litigation, any aberration in the financial domain, hardline political views, inappropriate conduct or language on social media platforms, sexual misconduct that may lead to may have a negative impact on the organisation and business," said Trehan. "It is ongoing to the extent that we keep a watch on a person's social media and internet presence on a real time basis. And if there's anything negative popping up, we will immediately highlight it back to the client."These ongoing checks on senior management personnel are aimed at keeping discreet tabs on anything that can impact the reputation, goodwill, or operational capabilities at an organisation, said Anshul Prakash, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.Apart from background verification agencies, private detectives could also be engaged while sources could include informants within the company network."Even a marital dispute, bad personal investments or a personal property-related litigation can impact the larger alignment of the individual to his/her professional capabilities," said Prakash.The objective is to assess whether anything in a person's private life could have an impact on the ability to do their job well. Any action will depend on the nature of the findings and whether the establishment and its stakeholders will be affected, said the people cited above.Take the case of a senior executive at a mid-sized Indian construction company who was going through a divorce. "Half the time he was not turning up at the office, his work was getting impacted and the company was clueless about his behaviour," said a senior lawyer, who didn't want to be named. "As per the company's policy, he was required to disclose any litigation that he is a part of but the executive did not do that. So the company commissioned a discreet check on him and once they found out he lost a part of his incentive/bonus for his negligence at work."Another top executive at a consumer durables company was named in a first information report (FIR) over a fight at a restaurant. A senior manager at an infrastructure company got his family members to set up a firm that was directly competing with his employer by quoting lower rates, said an official aware of both cases on condition of anonymity. Legal proceedings are ongoing in both these instances. Are such inquiries an invasion of privacy? "It is not a violation of privacy as the company is only using the information to process if a CXO-level person's personal behaviour and dealings may impact the reputation, operational capabilities of the organisation," said Prakash.Companies are putting in place more stringent processes to keep an eye on any untoward behaviour that may hurt an organisation or its stakeholders, said Naina Lal Kidwai, chairperson, Rothschild & Co India. "There is a focus by boards to bring in more rigour into background checks of senior professionals and making sure that whistleblower channels are open so that anything untoward can be reported to the board - anonymously or otherwise," she said. "Boards look to ensure that once wrongdoing is detected, often through forensic audit, the employee is given a fair chance to represent facts and then due action is taken."Companies may even gather market intelligence on whether a person is a speculator in the stock market or an investor by habit.Family-owned businesses looking to hire professionals are keen on maintaining their standing."As family-run businesses cast their net wider to hire professionals outside their close network and the level of familiarity decreases, companies are increasingly focusing on more stringent checks," said Maneesha Garg, partner and head, managed services forensic, KPMG India.

The bankruptcy court on Thursday admitted two Essel Group entities Primcomm Media Distribution Ventures Ltd and Essel Homes Pvt Ltd under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) after Gnex Realtech Pvt Ltd, an affiliate entity, defaulted on its dues of Rs 260 crore where these companies provided corporate guarantee.The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), in applications filed by Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, also appointed Ravi Prakash Ganti as interim resolution professional (IRP) for these companies.“We are of the considered view that the financial creditor has proved the existence of debt and default,” said the division bench of judicial member Lakshmi Gurung and a technical member Charanjeet Singh Gulati in its order against Primcomm Media Distribution Ventures. “Also, the petition filed is within limitation. Therefore, we hereby admit this company petition,” said the bench further.Before the tribunal’s order, Indiabulls Housing Finance, through its counsel Nausher Kohli, argued that the company had sanctioned a loan of Rs 190 crore in June 2020. The corporate debtor company Gnex Realtech defaulted on its dues on September 30, 2021.Countering Kohli, counsel Vinita Melvin, appearing for the Essel Group companies, argued that the debt has been disbursed to Gnex Realtech, not the corporate debtor. The Essel Group companies also claimed that respondents (Essel Homes and Primcomm Media Distribution Ventures) have merely pledged Genex Realtech shares as security against the loan to Gnex. The petitioner Indiabulls Housing Finance is, therefore, not a financial creditor.However, rejecting the arguments of the respondent companies, the tribunal admitted both companies under the insolvency resolution process.The tribunal has also put a moratorium on the companies and has restrained the institution of suits or continuation of pending suits or proceedings against the corporate debtors Essel Homes and Primcomm Media, including execution of any judgment, decree or order in any court of law, tribunal, arbitration panel or other authority.The tribunal also restrained the company’s promoters or any other person from transferring, encumbering, alienating or disposing of the company's assets.

Second phase voting for Lok Sabha elections is taking place across 13 states and union territories today. The campaign has been marked by intense campaigning and sharp exchanges between political parties. The polling was supposed to be held in 89 Lok Sabha constituencies, but voting in Madhya Pradesh's Betul was postponed to third phase after the death of Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) candidate.All 20 seats of Kerala will go to polls besides 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 7 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.After the polling in the second phase, elections will be over in Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura.Here's a comprehensive overview of the upcoming phase:Lok Sabha Polls Phase 2: Voting DetailsConstituencies: The second phase covers 89 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all 20 seats in Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and others.Voting Schedule: Polling will begin at 7 am and conclude at 6 pm. The election is being held in seven phases till June 1, with vote counting on June 4.Lok Sabha Polls Phase 2: INDIA Bloc and Opposition Unity:Several opposition parties have formed the INDIA bloc to field common candidates against the BJP.Key Personalities:Rahul Gandhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is re-contesting from Wayanad, Kerala.Shashi Tharoor: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is seeking a fourth successive term from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.Hema Malini: Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini is contesting from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.Bhupesh Baghel: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.Lok Sabha Polls Phase 2: Previous Phase Recap:The first phase of voting was held on April 19 across 102 constituencies. The voter turnout was over 62 per cent.Lok Sabha Polls Phase 2: States and Seats in Phase 2:Assam: 5 seats - Karimganj, Silchar, Mangaldoi, Nawgong, KaliaborBihar: 5 seats - Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur, BankaChhattisgarh: 3 seats - Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, KankerJammu and Kashmir: JammuKarnataka: 14 seats - Various constituenciesKerala: All 20 seatsMadhya Pradesh: 6 seats - Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad, BetulMaharashtra: 8 seats - Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded, ParbhaniManipur: Outer ManipurRajasthan: 13 seats - Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota, Jhalawar-BaranTripura: Tripura EastUttar Pradesh: 8 seats - Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura, BulandshahrWest Bengal: 3 seats - Darjeeling, Raiganj, BalurghatLok Sabha Polls Phase 2: Voter EligibilityAn estimated 16 crore voters, including 8.08 crore male, 7.8 crore female voters, and 5,929 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in this phase.Lok Sabha Polls Phase 2: Key Candidates in Phase 2Kerala: Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad), Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram), Hema Malini (Mathura), Bhupesh Baghel (Rajnandgaon)Karnataka: HD Kumaraswamy (Mandya), Yaduveer Wadiyar (Mysuru), DK Suresh (Bengaluru Rural), Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South)Assam: Pradyut Bordoloi (Nagaon), Dilip Saikia (Darrang-Udalguri), Kripanath Mallah (Karimganj), Parimal Suklabaidya (Silchar)Bihar: Santosh Kushwaha (Purnia), Mohammed Jawed (Kishanganj), Ajay Kumar Mandal (Bhagalpur), Giridhari Yadav (Banka)Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel (Rajnandgaon), Tamradhwaj Sahu (Mahasamund), Bhojraj Nag (Kanker)Madhya Pradesh: Virendra Kumar Khatik (Tikamgarh), RB Prajapati (Khajuraho), Tarbar Singh Lodhi (Damoh)Maharashtra: Prataprao Chikhalikar Govindrao (Nanded), Ashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao (Hingoli), Sanjay alias Bandu Jadhav (Parbhani)IMD Issues Heatwave WarningAs voters prepare for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday, they will have to contend with scorching temperatures. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh over the next five days.The IMD has issued a red warning for West Bengal and Odisha, indicating the highest level of alert, and an orange alert for Bihar and parts of Karnataka. In addition to the high temperatures, the Met office has warned of high humidity in Tripura, Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, Meghalaya, and Goa, which could further add to people's discomfort.To accommodate voters in these challenging weather conditions, polling time has been extended till 6 PM in many polling stations in Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger constituencies in Bihar.Voting for the second phase will begin from 7am and will continue till 6 in the evening. General elections are being held in seven phases and the votes will be counted on June 4. In the first phase of polling nearly 63 per cent votes were cast.