INDIA: Notification of new India takeover rules

Tuesday September 27 2011

Further to the update of 1 August in relation to notification of new India takeover rules, SEBI has published the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011.

The major changes introduced include:- increase of the initial trigger threshold from 15% to 25%;- where there are competitive offers, the successful bidder can acquire shares of other bidder(s) after the offer period without attracting open offer obligations;- the introduction of voluntary offers subject to certain conditions (minimum 10% stake);- the requirement on the Board of the target company to make a recommendation on the offer; – increase of the minimum offer size from 20% of the total issued capital to 26% of the total issued capital.- increase of the creeping acquisition range to 25% – 75% (previously 15% – 55%)

The new rules enter into effect on 22 October.