[Nishant Pande is a law graduate (B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)) from the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad (Class of 2021)] In late 2020, the Competition Commission of India (‘CCI’) expressed its intention to study the ownership patterns of private equity (‘PE’) investors. The CCI’s concern was based on the possibility that minority shareholdings of PE investors were not mere passive investments and they...
Judicial Misinterpretation of Scope of Sanctions in Scheme of Arrangement
[Vasu Aggarwal is a student at National Law School of India University. He is grateful to Prof. Rahul Singh for inspiring him to write on this topic, and thankful to Prof. Rahul Singh and Prof. Umakanth Varottil for their comments on the earlier drafts of this post] This post argues that courts have misinterpreted the scope of ex-ante sanction requirement for compromise and arrangement due to the...
Digital Markets: Need for a New Approach to Merger Regulation
[Manasvin Andra is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law School, Hyderabad] The emergence of digital markets has heralded a remarkable shift in antitrust law, with the impact of mergers on potential competitors attracting particular attention in recent years. While authorities in the United States (‘US’) and the European Union (‘EU’) have begun deliberating on...
CCI’s “Control” Quandary: Practice, Precedent, And Proposals
[Prateek Bhattacharya is Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, Associate Dean & Associate Director, Centre for Postgraduate Legal Studies at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University] As the Competition Commission of India (CCI) completes 10 years of its merger control regime, it has begun to settle down as an ex ante regulator of mergers so as to become the effective...
The Reliance Open Offer Penalty: ‘Unexplained’ Delays in Regulatory Action
Shikhar Aggarwal is a 3rd year B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University, Delhi] On 7 April 2021, the Adjudicating Officer (“AO”) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) imposed a monetary penalty of ₹25 crore jointly on 34 entities, including brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani and other promoters of Reliance Industries Limited (“RIL”), for their failure to comply with the...
India’s Attempt to Regulate SPACs: Sponsors in the Spotlight
[Anushri Uttarwar is a 4th year law student at O.P. Jindal Global University] On March 11, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) formed a group of experts to study the viability of introducing structures like special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) in India. Contrary to SEBI’s guarded position, the International Financial Services Centre Authority (“IFSCA”) has already...
The SPAC-tacular rise of Blank Check Companies in India?
[Poojita Saxena is a 4th year law student at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal] One of India’s leading renewable energy companies, ReNew Power, recently announced the execution of a definitive business combination agreement with RMG Acquisition Corporation II. The USD 8-billion transaction enables the combined power generation company to get listed on NASDAQ by the second quarter of...
Promoter-Friendly Amendments to the SEBI Takeover Regulations
Cash-starved companies are presently considering raising funds through various means during the economic downturn. When it comes to equity funding, the natural option would be to rely on their promoters to infuse more capital. Towards this end, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 16 June 2020 issued amendments to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers)...
Competition Regulatory Framework Governing Hostile Takeovers in India
[Rajat Maloo is a III year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] In 2019, the L&T-Mindtree hostile takeover battle revitalised the dialogue on the market for corporate control in India, which has until date witnessed only a few hostile takeovers. Apart from the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (‘Takeover...
The Impact of COVID-19 on M&A Due Diligence: The Way Forward
[Anushka Mehul Shah is a 2nd year student in the 3-year L.L.B course at the Government Law College, Mumbai] The outbreak of COVID-19 has had damaging ripple effects on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions around the globe. This year, global merger activity is at $762.6 billion so far, which is not only the lowest year-to-date amount for deal making since 2013, but it also down by 33%...
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