Epsilon Bidco's 75% buyout of Essel Propack gets CCI nod

The Competition Commission Monday said it has approved Epsilon Bidco Pte Ltd's proposal to buy 75 per cent holding in Essel Propack.

Essel Propack had in April announced a Rs 3,211-crore deal to raise money by selling out to buyout major Blackstone.

The deal involved the promoter selling 51 per cent by selling 51 per cent stake in the company for Rs 2,157 crore and a mandatory open offer, in which Epsilon was to pick up 26 per cent in the company by paying over Rs 1,000 crore.

"...acquisition of up to 75 per cent of shareholding in Essel Propack by Epsilon Bidco Pte Ltd" has been approved, the official Twitter handle of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said.

The exact relationship between Epsilon and Blackstone could not be immediately established.

Essel Propack's Ashok Goel, who also runs Essel World, the first amusement park in Mumbai, is the younger brother of Subash Chandra, the promoter of the financially troubled Essel group that has an indebtedness of Rs 17,174 crore.

Goel was very vocal to deny any business relationship with his elder brother Subash Chandra's Essel group, which is passing through financial troubles for some time now.

"I have no debt and I am not leveraged," Goel said, adding "as a family we are one, and care about each other. But there is no financial or commercial relationships with each other and there is no cross-holdings whatsoever between the two groups," Goel had said.

Goel said the proceeds from the deal will be used to strengthen his amusement park under Essel World at Gorai in the northwestern suburbs of the megapolis, and the nearby Water Kingdom. Some of the proceeds will also be used for charity, he added.

"We have been looking for a suitable partner and I am delighted we have found that in Blackstone who can continue the legacy and can maintain continuity of the management and customers and all other stakeholders," Goel, who is the managing director of the company, said.

The 37-year-old Essel Propack employs over 3,150 in across its 20 facilities in 10 countries, and manufactures 7 billion laminated tubes annually which are used in the FMCG, pharma and packaged food industries.