CCI nod for takeover of JB Chemicals, 4 other Indian firms by foreign funds
26 Aug 2020
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposal of Tau Investment to acquire shares in J B Chemicals. The proposed combination envisages acquisition of up to 64.90 per cent of the share capital of J B Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited by Tau Investment Holdings Pte Ltd.
Tau Investment is a company incorporated in Singapore. It is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of KKR Asian Fund III L.P and is an affiliate of funds, vehicles and/or entities managed and/or advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP, which is an indirect subsidiary of KKR & Co Inc.
J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited is an Indian pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is listed on BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited.
CCI also approved the acquisition by Lightstone Fund SA, for and on behalf of Lightstone Global Fund (LGT) of certain equity stakes in 91Streets Media Technologies Pvt Ltd (91Streets), Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Pvt Ltd (Ascent), API Holdings Pvt Ltd (API), Aahaan Commercials Pvt Ltd (Aahaan) and Lokprakash Vidhya Pvt Ltd (Lokprakash).
Lightstone Fund SA is structured as a reserved alternative investment fund and was established as an umbrella fund structure with initially one sub-fund, ie, Lightstone Global Fund. Lightstone Fund SA is managed by its Alternative Investment Fund Manager, ie, LGT Capital Partners (Ireland) Limited.
91Streets is a company incorporated in India and operates on a pan-India basis directly and through its subsidiaries. 91Streets inter alia owns technology and intellectual property required to develop an e-commerce platform (website as well as mobile application), focusing on the sale of medicines and nutraceuticals by retailers/retail pharmacies with valid licences, and diagnostic test package facilities offered by third-party labs. It also owns and develops a tele-medical consultation platform. Additionally, 91Street’s subsidiaries are engaged in the wholesale (Business to Business (B2B)) sale and distribution of pharmaceutical products, and sale to pharmaceutical retailers in India and in the provision of logistics delivery and transportation services.
Ascent is a company incorporated in India and is operating on a pan-India basis directly and through its subsidiaries. These are inter alia engaged in the (online as well as offline) wholesale B2B sale and distribution of pharmaceutical, over the counter FMCG and nutraceutical products, on a cash and carry basis and in the business of owning and developing an application which provides an order management system for facilitating B2B sales in the pharmaceuticals industry.
API is a company incorporated in India and is not engaged in any business. In FY21, API, through its subsidiary, acquired stake in Instinct Innovations Private Limited, which is engaged in the business of developing software and enterprise resource planning solutions for healthcare business as well as non-healthcare space, inter alia, and customised application services for the retail pharmacies on which sales can also be made.
Aahaan and Lokprakash do not carry out any business activities and do not have any subsidiaries.