 "mergers and acquisitions")
In a move to expedite the fast-track merger and amalgamation (M&A) applications, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has notified timelines for submitting objections and taking a final decision on such schemes, in a notification issued on May 15.
MCA has said that if no objection is submitted within 30 days of the receipt of an application then the regional director office has to take a decision within 15 days and issue a confirmation order if it finds the M&A scheme to be in the public interest.
MCA in its notification also said that if within 60 days from the filing of application, no decision is taken by the regional director office then, it would be deemed to have no objection to the scheme and a confirmation order would be issued accordingly.
For all such applications, the official liquidator and the registrar of the companies have to submit a report, specifying their objections if any to the proposed M&A. So far, the government had not set these timelines and applications remained pending without any deadline.
Experts however said that while the government move is a step in the right direction, on the ground the implementation would be hard.
MCA has also said that if the central government based on the objections received finds an M&A scheme to not be in the public interest then it has to file an application, within 60 days of receipt of the scheme, to the National Company Law Tribunal, stating its opinion.
