M&A rules to be notified on May 1

Competition Commission of India (CCI) will notify the new merger and acquisition (M&A) rules by May 1, a month before M&A provisions under Competition Act, 2002, turns effective for corporate mergers and takeovers in the country.

The ministry of corporate affairs will also organise a series of stake-holder consultations before the final rules were notified, said minister Murli Deora.

Speaking at a conference organised by industry chamber Ficci here today, the minister said the next industry consultation on M&A rules is scheduled in Mumbai on April 25. It will be followed by similar interactions in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

CCI chairman Dhanendra Kumar said the Commission will take a final view on the draft M&A rules on April 29, once industry consultations are over.

According to the provisions in the Act, only those companies with a turnover of over Rs 1,500 crore will have to approach the CCI for approval before going ahead with merger or acquisition plans. There are other threshold limits as well which will effectively keep over 90 per cent of M&As out of the intense CCI scrutiny, officials said. While all M&A applications that do not require in-depth scrutiny will get cleared within a month, the others will get through CCI vetting within 210 days.

R P N Singh, minister of state for corporate affairs, urged industry representatives to voice their concerns if any and suggest progressive steps for the implementation of the law.