Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Cyril Shroff, Aug 26, 2013
The (Indian) Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”), replaced the erstwhile (Indian) Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969, which contained provisions dealing with cartelization and unfair trade practices but not merger control. It is therefore not surprising that the creation of a new regulator to monitor M&A activity was resented by the industry for more than nine years. The merger control provisions of the Act were finally brought into force on June 1, 2011 and, since then, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”),has passed 121 orders approving a total of 116 combinations.
The merger control regulatory framework has evolved over this period as well, with crucial amendments being made to the Competition Commission of India (Procedure in regard to the transaction of business relating to combinations) Regulations, 2011 (“Combination Regulations”) in February 2012 and April 2013 and further amendments to the Act having been recently tabled before the lower house of the Indian Parliament.
While the law in this field continues to formally evolve to meet industry needs and policy expectations, this article attempts to analyze the learning to be drawn from the Orders of the CCI until now.
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