Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya M&A under CCI lens: Chawla
20 Jan 2015
The Competition Commission of India is examining the Rs15,000-crore banking merger deal between Kotak Mahindra and ING Vysya that would create the country's fourth largest private sector lender, CCI chairman Ashok Chawla said today.
Kotak Mahindra Bank had announced the buyout of ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal in November last year and the transaction received shareholders' nod earlier this month.
Chawla told reporters in New Delhi that the companies have notified the anti-trust regulator about their deal and ''it is being examined".
If it absorbs ING Vysya, Kotak Mahindra Bank would become the country's fourth-largest private lender.
The deal, announced in November 2014 (See: Kotak Mahindra Bank to acquire ING Vysya Bank) was approved by the shareholders of Kotak Mahindra and ING Vysya earlier this month, even as unions of ING Vysya Bank, including officers, threatened to go on strike in support of their demand for safeguarding employees' interests after the bank's merger with Kotak Bank (ING Vyasa unions threaten strike against Kotak Bank merger).
The CCI keeps a tab on unfair business practices at across market sectors in India.
