CCI decides 29 merger & acquisition cases in December; highest ever in a month

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given decisions on 29 combination cases during December, highest ever during any given month.

CCI has the mandate to keep a tab on unfair business practices across sectors, while mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain threshold also requires its approval.

"CCI decides 29 combination cases in December 2015 highest number of cases ever decided in a month," CCI said in a tweet on Wednesday.

In July, CCI had revised its combination regulations as part of its efforts to make the process simpler and more transparent.

According to the regulator, the amendments provide greater clarity and certainty with respect to mergers and acquisition (M&A) filings and will help in avoiding undue delays in the approval process.

Among the combination decisions given during the month are approval to the acquisition of Hotel Leelaventures Goa property by the Malaysia-based MetTube, Pfizer-Vidhi Research deal and acquisition of Piramal Enterprises' lab diagnostics and point-of-care business by DiaSys India.

The regulator also gave its nod to the acquisition of wealth management business of RBS by Sanctum Wealth and the acquisition of animal health business of Novartis by Eli Lilly.

Besides, the regulator during the month also sought comments from the public on India's largest multiplex chain PVR Ltd's proposed Rs 500 crore acquisition of DT Cinemas.

CCI also introduced electronic filing facility during December, making it simpler for entities to submit information related to mergers and acquisitions.

So far, the commission has dealt with more than 300 cases related to mergers and acquisitions.

In August, CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla had said there was at least 15-20% increase in filings. M&A filings for this year are likely to be 20% more than the previous year, he had said.