 "Thomas Cook, Sterling Holiday merger deal gets BSE, NSE nod")
The 'no-objection' from two stock exchanges would allow the two companies to file their scheme of amalgamation with the High Court for further clearance of the deal.
The deal would give Thomas Cook access to Sterling Holiday's 19 properties in 16 holiday destinations across India.
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The two firms now need clearances of the High Court among others to close the deal by the fourth quarter of 2014 as planned. The deal has received the approval of the Competition Commission of India.
In separate communications to Thomas Cook and Sterling Holiday, NSE and BSE said they were granting their 'no-objection approval' to the proposed scheme and this observation letter would be valid for six months, within which period the companies would have to file the scheme with the High Court for further clearance.
The exchanges have noted the confirmation given by the company stating that the scheme does not violate or over-ride or circumscribe the provisions of various regulatory norms.
"Accordingly, we do hereby convey our 'no-objection' with limited reference to those matters having a bearing on listing /delisting/ continuous listing requirements within the provisions of the Listing Agreement, so as to enable the company to file the scheme with the High Court," the exchanges said in a similarly worded circulars.
According to norms, companies seeking to execute merger or de-merger strategies need to obtain a 'no-objection certificate' from stock exchanges.
Earlier in May, the exchanges had asked the companies to file the scheme afresh along with crystallised pre-scheme shareholding pattern of Sterling Holiday and consequent post scheme shareholding of Thomas Cook citing 'deficiency in the documents' filed previously.
Thomas Cook, in February, announced merger of Sterling Holiday in a Rs 870-crore part-equity, part-cash deal to be executed in multiple stages.
Under the multi-layered deal, Chennai-based Sterling Holiday's resorts and some other business would be transferred to Thomas Cook Insurance Services, a subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India). Further, Thomas Cook would issue certain equity shares of the subsidiary to Sterling Holiday's shareholders.