In what circumstances can a takeover offer, once made, be withdrawn? This issue has occupied the attention of the Supreme Court in two previous cases, Nirma Industries v. Securities and Exchange Board of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India v. Akshya Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. In these cases, the Supreme Court took a strict view and held that the acquirers were not permitted to withdraw...
Supreme Court on Board Appointments During a Takeover Offer
Background In Securities and Exchange Board of India v. Burren Energy India Limited (decided on 2 December 2016), the Supreme Court of India was concerned with a couple of issues relating to the technical interpretation of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 (the “1997 Regulations”). This case involved an indirect acquisition of shares by an English...
ESOP Shares and the Computation of Open Offer Triggers
Under the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (“Takeover Regulations”), an acquirer must make a mandatory open offer to acquire the shares of the remaining shareholders when the acquirer acquires shares (with voting rights) beyond prescribed thresholds. Since the triggers are based on the acquisition of shares with voting rights, questions could arise whether...
Withdrawal of Open Offer: A Debate Rekindled?
[The following post is contributed by Saumya Bhargava & Prateek Suri, who are Associates at AZB & Partners, New Delhi. Views expressed are personal.] [In an earlier post dated August 5, 2016, we had discussed an order relating to the open offer of Jyoti Limited in the context of circumstances under which an open offer is allowed to be withdrawn in India] Public announcement of an open...
Non-compete Fee: A Bane for Minority Shareholders
[The following post is contributed by Soham Roy & Akhil Nene, who are 5th year students at the National Law University Odisha] A non-compete fee is paid to exiting promoters or founders of a company to ensure that they do not compete for a certain period of time with the company they are exiting. Recently, there was considerable controversy surrounding the HDFC Life-Max merger as a result of...
Exempted inter-se transfer amounts to ‘sale’
[The following post is contributed by Supreme Waskar, who is a corporate lawyer in Mumbai] In an earlier post on February 18, 2012, Mr. Umakanth Varottil had discussed the informal guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to Strides Arcolabs in connection with the company’s eligibility to issue securities to its promoters on a preferential allotment basis...
Takeover Regulations and the Banking Sector
Two separate but recent developments underscore the need to treat the banking sector differently when it comes to compliance with the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (the “Takeover Regulations”). While the first relates to the applicability of the Takeover Regulations to capitalization of banks, the second relates to restructuring debts of borrower...
Withdrawal of an Offer under SEBI’s 2011 Takeover Regulations
Once a takeover offer is made, it is generally treated as sacrosanct. It is extremely difficult for acquirers to withdraw from the offer. This position has been clarified in a number of decisions of courts and appellate tribunals, including the Supreme Court. We have previously discussed the cases of Nirma Industries v. Securities and Exchange Board of India (2013) and SEBI v. Akshya...
Wilful Defaulter Provisions: A Spanner in the Works for M&A Transactions?
[The following post is contributed by Malek Shipchandler, a lawyer at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Views expressed herein are solely that of the author and do not in any way represent the views of his organization] The Indian securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently notified an amendment to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers)...
SEBI’s Regime on Wilful Defaulters
Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had issued a discussion paper that proposed tight curbs against wilful defaulters from accessing the capital markets. We had commented on the discussion paper in previous posts (here and here). Pursuant to the consultation process, SEBI last week issued amendments to various regulations in order to operationalize such curbs...
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