The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given its nod for the merger of Bharti AXA’s non-life insurance business with ICICI Lombard General Insurance , paving the way for creating the country’s third-largest non-life insurance company.
“Commission approves acquisition of General Insurance Business of Bharti AXA @BhartiAXAGI by ICICI Lombard @ICICILombard”, the CCI tweeted on Monday.
Now that the CCI had blessed the deal, both sides are expected to form an integration committee to take the merger process forward and obtain multiple regulatory approvals including SEBI, RBI, IRDA and NCLT among others, sources familiar with the development said.
It may be recalled that this deal was announced in August this year. The combined entity is expected to have a market share of 8.7 per cent on a pro forma basis.
Under the deal, shareholders of Bharti AXA will receive two shares of ICICI Lombard for every 115 shares of Bharti AXA held by them as on the date on which the scheme of arrangement is approved by the Board of Directors of ICICI Lombard and Bharti AXA.