S K Bangur on Rama Newsprint board

The S K Bangur group chairman Shree Kumar Bangur, along with four other representatives of the group, have joined the board of Rama Newsprint and Papers Ltd on Friday following the acquisition of majority stake in the country's largest private sector newsprint maker.

Shree Kumar and his son Virendra joined the board nearly four months after group flagship West Coast Paper Mills struck a deal to acquire 33.85 per cent stake from Rama Newsprint's lead banker ICICI Bank.

Other Bangur nominees who joined the Rama Newsprint board included K L Chandak, executive director of West Coast Paper, and Haigreve Khaitan of Khaitan & Co, a solicitor firm. V D Bajaj of West Coast was appointed executive director.

Vastu J Ramsinghani, the former promoter, resigned as managing director. He, however, will continue as a director. S C Bhargava and C U Mangtani, two whole time directors of Rama Newsprint, have also resigned. Mujib Mundewadi appointed as a nominee director of ICICI Bank.

The Bangur group observer say S K Bangur may assume greater portfolio soon. As he is the chairman of the group's flagship West Coast, the possibility of his becoming chairman of Rama Newsprint is very high, sources close to the family said.

West Coast now enjoys nearly 34 per cent stake in Rama Newsprint. The open offer, which followed the acquisition of ICICI Bank's stake, managed to garner only 0.5 per cent stake due to a sudden bullishness at the Rama Newsprint counter during the offer period.