The Munjal-Burman duo has given its consent to the Fortis board to re-open the bidding process for stake sale in the company to ensure that "the larger interests" of the company are served.
In a letter to the Board of Directors, the duo said, "....We provide our consent for the company to re-open the bidding process in order to facilitate the company to expeditiously finalise and close its fund-raising so that the company's business doesn't suffer..."
The duo added that while it continued to be of the firm view that its offer was the best received by the company till date, it believed that the situation may have arisen due to lack of information available to shareholders.
Fortis informed the NSE and the BSE of the letter from the Munjal-Burman duo on Monday. The move opens the door for all previous bidders, which includes Manipal-TPG, Malaysia's IHH, and Radiant-KKR, to participate in the bidding process.
If re-bidding happens, the re-constituted board will evaluate the bids. The first time round, five of the eight directors in the previous board had voted in favour of Munjal-Burman, while the remaining favoured other bids.