Merger mania: Will big listed companies get to skip the company court?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Centre may consider eliminating mandatory approval from the company law court in the merger and demerger of local listed firms, two people aware of the discussions in said, over eight years after it allowed the leeway for certain types of companies. The move could reduce the burden on the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) benches and speed up the process, potentially reshaping the country’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape.
"Multiple ministries are discussing ways to expedite amalgamations, particularly for listed companies. They are also considering whether approval requirements from the NCLT should be included in this process," one of the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. In her budget speech on Saturday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government aims to streamline India's M&A process, making it faster and more efficient.
An email sent to ministry of corporate affairs remained unanswered. To be sure, the government in December, 2016 allowed fast-track mergers between a holding company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, two or more small companies, two or more startup companies, or a startup company and a small company. This allowed mergers to proceed with approvals from Centre and the MCA's regional director unless public interest or interest of creditors is involved.
Prior to this, all kinds of mergers required NCLT approval. Also read | InsuranceDekho, RenewBuy near merger to create India's No. 2 insurance aggregator Government officials are discussing to allow listed firms to skip the NCLT process if the merger or demerger is cleared by financial sector regulators, shareholders, creditors and CCI, the people cited above said on
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