Shriram-IDFC merger to miss 90-day timeline

Mumbai: The proposed merger of Shriram Capital and IDFC is likely to miss the October 8 timeline for arriving at an acceptable agreement. This was disclosed by Ajay Piramal, chairman Shriram Group.

“We said that this (merger proposal) is an initial thought, subject to the RBI approval and to valuations. So we are in that process of discussion with the RBI and in respect of valuations,” said Piramal. He added that IDFC and Shriram had chosen to announce the merger proposal before any decision was taken so that there was no allegation of insider trading.

Piramal said that there was no fixed merger proposal and the partners were discussing various alternatives. “We will look at what is in the best interest of the shareholders of Shriram and we are also protecting the interest of shareholders of Piramal Enterprises,” said Piramal.

In July, IDFC and Piramal-backed Shriram Group had agreed to merge and cre- ate the largest retail-focused bank in the country. The merger proposal envisaged Shriram City Union Finance merging with the bank and Shriram Transport Finance getting delisted and becoming a subsidiary of IDFC Ltd — the parent of IDFC Bank, which was to become the group holding company. The managements of the two groups had agreed on a 90-day period. If the two parties arrived at an agreement on the proposed lines, a formal merger was to take place in 12 months. The proposal is subject to approvals from the RBI, Sebi, IRDAI, CCI and stock exchanges. most disruptive player in the telecom space recently with the strategy of building its own content. Amazon has been investing heavily to create original India content for its Prime Video platform here while Netflix, too, is partnering with directors, stand-up artists to create original content exclusively. Amazon is estimated to have spent about Rs 1,200-1,500 crore for its content business in the first year. Prime Video was launched in December last year.

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