Merger And Acquisition Transactions Under Competition Law Regime

Garima Rai

Merger and Acquisition, combination, competition law, CCI

Merger and acquisitions have played a very significant role in phenomenal growth of corporate sector after opening up of Indian economy. Though it is one of the fundamental mechanism for corporate restructuring and business synergies but the process regulating mergers and acquisitions is not free from regulatory bottlenecks. There are several judicial, quasi-judicial and regulatory bodies involved in sanctioning a scheme of merger. The introduction of competition watchdog i.e. Competition Commission of India caused an apprehension in the industry that inclusion of another regulator will further complicate and delay the merger process. However, the Competition Act, 2002 and regulations framed thereunder have very systematic and fair approach for dealing with merger cases. This article discusses the statutory framework of M&A approval under the competition law in terms of section 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 and regulations framed thereunder. In terms of the scheme of the Competition Act, 2002, transactions below a threshold are exempted from the purview of Competition Commission of India. This article discusses the approach of the Competition Commission of India in dealing with merger and acquisition transactions based on the analysis of order passed by the Competition Commission of India in Vodafone and Idea merger case. The author has highlighted some key observations made by CCI while approving the merger of Vodafone and Idea. In majority of the merger cases decided by the Competition Commission of India, it has approved these transactions holding that there is no appreciable adverse effect on competition because of merger or acquisition of a target by an acquirer. In this backdrop, this article also discusses whether the pro-merger approach of Competition Commission of India is in consonance with the objectives of Competition Act, 2002.

Volume 6 Issue 1, February-2018

Pages : 123-128