[The following post is contributed by Aditya Swarup, who is an advocate practising in the Bombay High Court. He has a B.A., LL.B (Hons.) degree from NALSAR, Hyderabad and B.C.L. and M.Phil degrees from Oxford] The issue of conflicting provisions in a Shareholders Agreement (SHA) and the articles of association (Articles) of a company is a never ending debate, and perhaps a rather confounding one...
SEBI Order on Public Shareholding Norms
The deadline for compliance by non-government entities of the public shareholding norms went by on June 3, 2013. Immediately thereafter, SEBI yesterday issued an order against 108 companies that have failed to comply with these norms. SEBI’s press release summarizing its order is available here. A couple of points are noteworthy. The first relates to the rapidity with which SEBI has acted. This...
Delaware Court on Going Private Transactions
Transactions such as mergers between a company and its controlling shareholders are subject to close scrutiny by courts. Such transactions give rise to conflict of interest as they are carried out between related parties and therefore require close supervision. Moreover, mergers with controlling shareholders may also be utilised to force out minority shareholders of a company if the non...
Supreme Court on Withdrawal of a Takeover Offer
Background The Supreme Court earlier this month issued its decision on the takeover offer by Nirma Industries Limited to the shareholders of Shree Rama Multi Tech Limited (SRMTL). The court concurred with the view of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in disallowing the withdrawal of the offer by Nirma. In a column appearing on CNBC’s The...
Defining “Control” in Takeover Regulations
The question of what constitutes “control” under the SEBI Takeover Regulations of 2011 is a vexed one. This is because an acquirer could acquire less than the mandatory offer threshold of 25% and still be required to make an offer if it is said to be in control of the target company. Control is defined in an inclusive manner and could result in some amount of subjectivity in its determination...
SEBI Clarifies on Schemes of Arrangement
Following SEBI’s circular of February 4, 2013 imposing stringent requirements for oversight of schemes of arrangement, there were certain issues that required clarification (discussed here and here). Now, by way of another circular dated May 21, 2013, SEBI has clarified some of the outstanding issues and also made some modifications to the previous circular. In this post, we discuss some of the...
Public Shareholding Norms: Consequences of Non-Compliance
The June 2013 deadline for compliance by listed companies with the minimum public shareholding of 25% is looming closer. The deadline for compliance by public sector (government) listed companies to comply with the 10% minimum public shareholding will follow in August. Over the last few months, several companies have already reduced their promoter shareholding to meet with these norms. This has...
Madras High Court on SEBI Circular for Scheme of Arrangement
A few months ago, I had discussed SEBI’s circular of February 4, 2013, which imposes more stringent oversight by SEBI and the stock exchanges on different types of schemes of arrangement. Shortly thereafter, our guest contributor Yogesh Chande has pointed to issues relating to the scope of the SEBI circular, and specifically whether the circular applies only to such schemes that require exemption...
Enforceability of Put and Call Options: Reality Soon?
Although put and call options are quite common in investment agreements, its enforceability under Indian law has been in serious doubt due to age-old provisions in securities laws which have not been updated to meet with the requirement of the times. I have discussed the issue in detail in this paper and also called “for a reconsideration of the legal regime so that physically settled options...
Call for Papers – Journal on Governance
[The following announcement is posted on behalf of the Center for Governance, National Law University, Jodhpur] Center for Governance, National Law University, Jodhpur, proposes the VII issue of “Journal on Governance,” its annual publication. Journal on Governance offers a forum for critical research on interplay of contemporary corporate governance issues with other disciplines...
Recent Comments