Hostile Takeovers In India – Part 2

The corporate landscape of India has been conservative in its dealings, as outright battles for control are a rarity as far as the field of M&A goes. In a world where most mergers or acquisitions take place on a cordial note, with both sides as willing parties, a hostile takeover would not have been imaginable even after Swaraj Paul's infamous attempt to takeover Delhi Cloth Mills from the Shri Ram family and Escorts Limited from the Nanda family. In those days, State intervention was not an uncommon occurrence considering the attempts took place prior to liberalization of the Indian economy. The landscape of India Inc. has practically terraformed over the last two and a half decades, with two successful hostile takeovers having already taken place. With Swaraj Paul's attempt, the Securities and Exchange Board of India ("SEBI") enacted the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Share and Takeover) Regulations, 1994 to regulate takeovers in India, which was further refreshed