PremiumPNB Housing Finance Ltd.’s Rs. 4,000 crore stake sale to the Carlyle Group and Salisbury Investments Pvt. Ltd. has got deemed approval from the Competition Commission of India, an official statement from the competition regulator said.
The clearance is granted under the green channel facility as per which a deal which does not cause appreciable adverse effect on market competition is deemed to be approved on it being intimated to the regulator.
CCI said in a statement it received a notice on the acquisition of equity stake in PNB Housing Finance from the two investors.
As per the deal, Pluto Investments S.à r.l., an entity set up in Luxembourg by investment funds known as Carlyle Asia Partners V and Salisbury Investments Pvt. Ltd., the family investment vehicle of Aditya Puri, senior advisor for Carlyle in Asia and the former chief executive and managing director of of HDFC Bank will acquire stake in the state-owned housing financier.
CCI’s clearance is only from the perspective of the transaction’s impact on competition in the market while other sectoral regulators are free to have their own take on a deal.
The development comes at a time when the transaction is before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). Capital market regulator Sebi had in June asked PNB Housing Finance to get a valuation done by an independent registered valuer and consider the same while deciding on the preferential issue of shares and warrants. Sebi had also told the housing financier that the shareholder meeting agenda relating to the transaction was not in line with its charter. PNB Housing Finance then approached the SAT and is awaiting its decision. The company informed the stock exchanges last month that its board of directors has considered the Sebi letter, and continue to believe that the company has acted in compliance with all relevant applicable laws, including the applicable pricing regulations prescribed by Sebi, and the articles of association (charter) of the company. It also said that such preferential allotment was in the best interests of the company, its shareholders and all relevant stakeholders.
Emails sent to PNB Housing Finance and the Carlyle Group on Wednesday seeking comments for the story remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
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