Adani's acquisition of Mumbai Airport from GVK gets CCI green signal

The Competition Commission has approved Adani Group's proposed acquisition of controlling stake in Mumbai airport from GVK Airport Developers under the green channel route.

The green channel route provides for automatic approval of certain deals subject to various conditions, including absence of horizontal overlaps and existing or potential vertical relationships.

"Commission received Green Channel combination pertaining to acquisition of GVK Airport Developers Ltd by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd," the regulator said in a tweet.

In August, it was announced that Adani Group will acquire GVK Airport Developers Ltd's (GVKADL) 50.50 per cent stake as well as buy out the 23.5 per cent stake of Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and Bidvest Group.

Deals beyond a certain threshold require approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

As per a notice filed with the watchdog, the acquirer proposes to acquire sole control of GVKADL through one or more steps, which will involve purchase of all external debt of the company, conversion of the said debt to equity and purchase of its balance shares.

In the notice, Adani Airport Holdings said there is no overlap in the relevant geographic market and there are also no vertical or complementary linkages between the activities of the group and GVKADL in India.