India to further liberalize mergers and acquisition norms

24 Jun 2011 Evaluate

The Indian government has decided to further liberalize norm of mergers and acquisitions. On June 23, a government official said, India will further liberalize norms to facilitate mergers and acquisitions that have been one of the biggest contributors to the country's industrial expansion. The industrial bodies has been demanding to the government that the merger and acquisitions norms should be industry friendly by making new provisions through changes in Companies Bill and Foreign investment police.

At an event organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), D.K. Mittal, secretary in the corporate affairs ministry said, 'Corporates will not have multiplicity of reporting formats and that is one commitment we give to the Indian industry.

D K Mittal said Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the three main regulators of the mergers and acquisition activities, have been striving hard to further liberalize the norms. 'We have been careful not to put any restriction on acquisition by Indian corporates outside the country,' Mittal added. Under the present norms, Indian firms cannot merger the foreign companies into a subsidiary of Indian listed companies. 

Competition Commission of India (CCI) and SEBI have laws to regulate takeover of Indian firms from foreign companies where capital is much cheaper. 'The idea is that regulation should not be restrictive or destructive and that regulatory framework should have a soft landing which we have been able to achieve,' Mittal said.

Indian Corporates have been demanding easier norms for mergers and acquisitions, due to current norms, Indian companies are facing problem in taking over foreign companies and assets. Indian firms are not allowed to acquire foreign firms through stock for stock combinations as in most jurisdictions rule don’t accept American depository receipts and global depositories. In 2010, Indian corporate sector saw mergers and acquisition deals worth around $67 billion.

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