Fix the complexity in takeovers and delisting

If we do not make M&A execution simple and logical, capital - Indian and foreign - would seek out jurisdictions that do not entail such complication

Dealing with the aftermath of Covid and the containment measures will necessarily entail a hard rethink on regulations governing mergers and acquisitions. Companies and substantial shareholders that need to be bailed out would look for buyers. Capital being scarce, buyers would look to invest their resources in situations that are easy to comprehend, and logical in their regulation.

Against this backdrop, it is now time and most appropriate for a long-awaited and much-stymied reform of the Takeover Regulations and the Delisting Regulations. For strange reasons these are two separate bodies of law in India.

Takeover Regulations entail an acquirer making an offer