Dua Associates advised Canara Bank when it recently sold a 13.45% shareholding in Can Fin Homes, its listed housing finance associate company, to Caladium Investment, an affiliate of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for ₹7.5 billion (US$ 113.5 million) as part of its efforts to the monetize its non-core assets. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised Caladium Investment.
The Dua team comprised Bengaluru-based partner Srinivas BR, who led on the transaction, Karan Ajitsaria, who advised on the Foreign Exchange Management Act aspects, Kunal Mehra who advised on competition law matters, and associates Charumathi M, Sharan Balasubramaniyam and Maitreyi Kannur.
Srinivas BR told India Business Law Journal that the sale was an off-market transaction, which is unusual for shares of listed companies: “Since this transaction was one of such kind, it gave rise to various situational challenges which are peculiar to transactions of this nature.”
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”3″ ihc_mb_template=”2″ ]
Dua Associates said that the turnover and asset value of Can Fin Homes was such that during the preparation of the invitation to bid, there was need for advice on potential compliances under the Competition Act.
The Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas team comprised partner Raghubir Menon, who provided corporate advice; partners Shweta Shroff Chopra, Aparna Mehra and Vivek Agarwal, and senior associate Geet Sawhney, who provided competition law advice; and partner Amit Singhania and principal associate Gouri Puri, who provided tax advice.
Following, the sale, Canara Bank holds a 30% stake in Can Fin Homes, a company it set up in 1987.
[/ihc-hide-content]
