A regional workshop on 'competition issues in merger and acquisitions', as a part of the celebrations of 'Bharat Ki Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' to commemorate the 75 years of India’s independence, was conducted on 27th November, 2021 in the western region in Mumbai as a ‘CCI half day event’.
The workshop had been conducted with the view to sensitize and deliberate on various competition issues in M&A activity with various stakeholders such as legal fraternity, economists, academicians, etc.
The venue of the program was the auditorium of Pravin Gandhi College of Law (PGCL), Vile Parle (W), Mumbai. Arrangement of Lunch was also made for the guests. Around 60 persons also participated in the program. The program was initiated with an inaugural session being addressed by Ms. Suman Kalani (Chairperson, CCLIPR), Ms. Avaantika Kakkar (Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas), Mr. Manish Mohan Govil (Adviser, CCI), and student coordinator of CCLIPR. Subsequently, officials of CCI addressed the participants with sessions on legal/economic concepts in regulation of mergers with the broad topics being (i) introduction (by Mr. Manish Mohan Govil, Adviser, CCI), (ii) are all M&As required to be notified – scheme of notification of combinations (by Ms. Neha Raj Kocchar, JD Law, CCI), (iii) What is the legal framework of assessment of a M&A transaction (by Mr. Anuj Verma, DD FA, CCI), (iv) What are the relevant factors in assessment of a M&A transaction? (by Mr. Arpit Gupta, DD Eco, CCI). The participants were then served with refreshments. The penultimate session was then conducted by Mr. Vipul Puri (JD FA, CCI) on the topic of understanding theories of harm and remedy framework through case studies. At the end, resource persons from non–government agencies (NGAs), i.e., Ms. Avaantika Kakkar (Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) and Mr. Kirthi Srinivas (Principal Associate, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) engaged with the participants relating to discussions on hypothetical cases.
Gist of the Case study: A hypothetical case involving two companies Alpha and Zulu, as parties to the proposed combination. The transaction involves a demerger (Step-1) and Merger pursuant to a scheme of amalgamation (Step-2), as steps of the proposed combination. The said case studies touched upon gun-jumping issues, interconnected transactions, control, horizontal overlaps, reciprocal supply agreement, vertical overlaps, and reference to pre-filing consultation with the officers of the commission.
Post the aforesaid sessions, the participants and resource persons engaged in fruitful questions and answers sessions. With the end of this session, the participants then proceed for having lunch, as arranged.
The program was a huge success as more than 66 participants attended this competition law workshop. All the Covid 19 protocols relating to use of mask and maintain physical distancing were diligently followed and all the participants who were allowed to be attended were fully vaccinated.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/competition-commission-of-india_cci-on-twitter-activity-6870775077437243392-nGRN