M&A Magazine

The country’s largest engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has now been cast as an avaricious acquirer after it made hostile bid to take over Bengaluru-based I-T services company Mindtree . As a first move to one of the largest hostile takeovers India Inc. has seen, L&T bought the first tranche of shares in a free and consenting transaction with V.G. Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day to buy 20.3% stake in Mindtree from him and his two affiliate firms. The engineering giant has the required pedigree in the IT business with its two companies L&T Infotech Ltd and L&T Technology Services Ltd. The chairman of L&T Group, AM Naik says that the acquisition of Mindtree fits into the larger plan of the company. The promoters of Mindtree — Krishnakumar Natarajan, Subroto Bagchi, NS Parthasarathy and Rostow Ravanan — have vehemently opposed the takeover as they face loss of control in a company they set up and nurtured with great ca...

In ordinary parlance, a hostile takeover shall imply the acquisition of Target Company by the Acquirer which is accomplished by going directly to the company's shareholders or fighting to replace management to get the purchase approved. A hostile takeover can be achieved through either an open offer or a proxy fight.aa There have been very few instances of hostile takeover in our country. Of late, the biggest tussle in the power of control is being witnessed in the Information Technology sector wherein Mindtree Ltd deploying all resources and tactics to fight tooth and nail to fend off L&T takeover attempt. It will be the first-ever hostile takeover move in India's technology industry for a publicly traded company. One could say that life has come full circle for Mr A.M. Naik, Current Group Chairman of the L&T who had battled with both Reliance and Birla Groups to thwart a hostile takeover bid for L&T  in the early 2000s. The tables have turned around by ...

The Center has set up National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT ) on June 1, 2016 to look into cases relating to insolvency and bankruptcy of companies, especially those that have a huge bank debt. It works like the courts of law in the country and determines the facts of each case and decides in accordance with principles of natural justice. There were multiple petitions filed with NCLT benches by Tax departments pertaining to treatment of their dues during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process ( CIRP ) under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code ( IBC ), 2016. Why taxman is running to NCLT for relief? ·          Adjudicating Authority has granted huge Income Tax benefits to the Respondent- ‘Synergies Castings Ltd.’ without impleading the Appellant department as a Respondent to the said proceedings. ( No. 205 of 2017 - Synergies Dooray Automotive Ltd. & Ors. ) ·          The grievance of...

Indian companies are increasingly looking at South East Asian countries for business and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) because there is a good strategic and cultural fit with companies in the region. Indian companies in sectors such as healthcare, consumer and industrials have done M&As with counterparts in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Smart Indian entrepreneurs are increasingly looking at South East Asia for its sizeable collective market, greater ease of doing business, and large unmet demand for information technology expertise. Moreover, barring Singapore, education in technology and engineering is considerably lacking in South East Asia and that is where Indian entrepreneurs are gradually making a mark in the region. The M&As deals between Indian and South East Asia countries grew from $8.1 billion in 2016 to $14.9 billion in 2018, according to data from Grant Thornton. Moreover, a survey done by Baker McKenzie on 100 C-Suite India...

In a move to create a monopoly in digital cinema distribution network and in-cinema advertising platform,  In November 2017 Chennai-based  Qube Cinema Technologies  and Mumbai-headquartered  UFO Moviez  announced the  merger  of their businesses.  Even after part of the scheme was approved by the Chennai NCLT bench, the scheme was rejected by the Mumbai NCLT in the last week of January 2019. We had covered this article in our January 2018 issue and details of the proposed merger are as below. UFO Moviez India Limited (UFO)  is India’s largest digital cinema distribution network and in-cinema advertising platform in terms of number of screens. UFO operates India’s largest satellite-based, digital cinema distribution network using its UFO-M4 platform, as well as India’s largest D-Cinema network. Their offerings include Digital Cinema System, UFO Framez, Club Cinema and IMPACT Ticketing Platform. UFO Moviez is listed on BSE. Qube C...