Ruchi Soya shareholders okay appointment of Ramdev on board; stock up 4.5%

Ruchi Soya had sought shareholders' approval to re-designate Acharya Balkrishna as chairman of the company and appointment of Swami Ramdev, 49, as a director on the company board

Shares of Ruchi Soya gained as much as 4.5 per cent to hit an intra-day high of Rs 690 on the BSE on Wednesday after shareholders of the company approved the appointment of Yoga guru Swami Ram Dev, his younger brother Ram Bharat and close aide Acharya Balkrishna on the company's board.

At 12:55 pm, the stock was trading 4.47 per cent higher at Rs 689.9, as against a 0.68-per cent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. From its 52-week low of Rs 16, hit on January 27, 2020, the stock has zoomed a massive 4,025 per cent on the BSE till December 23. However, it is still 57 per cent away from its 52-week high level of Rs 1,535, hit on June 29, 2020.

In a regulatory filing, Ruchi Soya, which sells soya products under Nutrela brand, said the shareholders have approved all resolutions at the annual general meeting with requisite majority.

Ruchi Soya had sought shareholders' approval for appointment of Ram Bharat, 41, as the managing director of the company as well as to re-designate Acharya Balkrishna as chairman of the company and appointment of Swami Ramdev, 49, as a director on the company board.

The board of directors, at its meeting held on August 19, has appointed Ram Bharat as managing director of the company with effect from August 19, 2020 to December 17, 2022 and his designation was changed from whole-time director to managing director. READ MORE

Last year, Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved paid Rs 4,350 crore to take over Ruchi Soya. The acquisition helped Patanjali acquire edible oil plants as also soybean oil brands such as Mahakosh and Ruchi Gold.