M&A Magazine

The Bombay High Court , in a far-reaching order, has set aside an earlier order of National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT ) which had admitted an insolvency petition against Rolta India . A two-member Mumbai bench of the tribunal admitted the plea of -- Value Partner Greater China High Yield Income Fund and Pinpoint Multi-Strategy Fund -- claiming default of around Rs 1,060 crore. Kamal Singh, the director of the company, had challenged the NCLT's order. The High Court set aside the appointment of an insolvency resolution professional. The NCLT had appointed Shailendra Ajmera of EY as the interim professional of the company to complete the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. How the Case unfolded? Instead of going to NCLAT, a writ petition was filed in the High Court against the NCLT order. It is alleged that on 22 nd October 2019, the Bench of the Judicial Member and Technical Member did not conduct any adjudicatory business. It is stated that the order has been put i...

The Union Cabinet has approved the sale of its 53.29% stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd ( BPCL ) to a private entity. The state-owned company is one of the most profitable oil refiners and operates fuel stations. At the prevailing market cap, the government expects to garner about Rs 56,000 crore from the stake sale. The government’s idea of privatising BPCL was to usher in greater competition in sectors that can sustain on their own. The government is keen to get international energy majors such as Saudi Aramco, Total SA of France and ExxonMobile to operate in the downstreama fuel marketing business so as to bring in greater competition. In fact, BPCL will offer attractive buy for global oil majors such as Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia. However, with global oil prices in a slowdown mode, the appetite for large acquisition becomes difficult. Privatisation of BPCL would help realise a higher price and may take out politics out of auto fuel pricing. At present, BPCL operates four...

Raymond Group , having an interest in Textile & Apparels, Real Estate, FMCG and Engineering products has decided to streamline its corporate structure. In pursuant to this, the company will separate its lifestyle business division to separate company & later to list it separately. Raymond Limited ( Raymond ) is India's largest integrated worsted suiting manufacturer that offers end-to-end solutions for fabrics and garmenting. Over the years, Raymond has been synonymous with quality, innovation and market leadership. It has some of the leading brands within its portfolio - Raymond Ready to Wear, Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Parx, Raymond Made to Measure amongst others. Raymond has one of the largest exclusive retail networks in the country with over 1500 stores across 601 towns. As a part of the diversified Group, it also has business interests in men's accessories, personal grooming & toiletries, prophylactics, engineering and auto components across national and int...

Future Group is continuously trying to redefine the consumer space in India. Recently, Future Consumer Limited also came up with a new vision “FMCG 2.0” based on key pillars like Data Science, Multiple Categories, Integrated Value Chain and Digital Distribution Network. In a move to enhance its product portfolio, Future Consumer Limited is set to acquire the “Identified Undertaking” of Mumbai based Athena Life Sciences Private Limited . Future Consumer Limited (“FCL”) is an integrated food and FMCG company that markets brands such as Tasty Treat, Golden Harvest, Sunkist, Sangi‘s Kitchen, Desi Atta Company, Kara, Swiss Tempelle, CareMate, Clean Mate, Think Skin, Fresh & Pure, among others. These are backed by a nation-wide network of sourcing centres for agricultural produce and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at India Food Park, Tumkur and other locations across India and Sri Lanka. The Company ‘s products include processed and frozen food, dairy and bake...

After a long-drawn legal battle, the Supreme Court of India on November 15 gave the ruling that ArcelorMittal can acquire Essar Steel for Rs 42,000 crore. The apex court overruled the appellate tribunal NCLAT which asked the banks to share the proceeds equally with the unsecured creditors as well. The apex court's ruling is a landmark in the short history of insolvency and bankruptcy resolution in India. The verdict has clarified on important aspects of insolvency resolution that had been interpreted variously by the National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT ) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ( NCLAT ). Essar Steel was among the first list of the largest 12 stressed accounts that the Reserve Bank of India had drawn up in June 2017 and asked banks to refer to the NCLT and the company was formally sent to the tribunal on June 27, 2017. In fact, the Ruia family lost control of Essar in July 2017 including Essar Steel. Essar Oil was sold to a Rosneft-led group in 2017. T...

In what seems to be last attempt, government has finally decided to revive by merging the two loss-making state-owned telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd ( BSNL ) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd ( MTNL ) . The two telecom companies have been bleeding and their subscriber base dwindling as competitors such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio had rolled out pan India 4-G services and cut prices on voice and data. MTNL , which is largely present in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, will act as a unit of BSNL until the merger is completed. While MTNL is listed, BSNL is not listed. The two companies have a total debt of Rs 40,000 crore. The merger bill will be about Rs 70,000 crore which includes voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), capital infusion, goods and service tax and bond guarantee. The Centre will raise Rs 15,000 core through sovereign bonds to strengthen the two-state run telecom companies and the government will monetise telecom a...