NCLT directs Bandhan Bank to seek shareholders' nod for merger with Gruh Finance

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed private sector lender Bandhan Bank to convene a meeting of its equity shareholders to approve the proposed merger with Gruh Finance.

"The NCLT, by way of its order dated June 20, 2019 in company application has directed to convene a meeting of the equity shareholders of the bank to approve the scheme of amalgamation on July 30, 2019, at 11.00 AM at mini auditorium, Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, DG Block (New Town), Action Area I, New Town, West Bengal," Bandhan Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Kolkata-based bank also informed the exchange that the Kolkata bench of NCLT has dispensed with requirement of the meeting of the unsecured creditors of the bank. The tribunal has directed the bank to issue notices to the relevant unsecured creditors in terms of the order.

The proposed merger has already received approval from the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The bank has also got nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the proposed scheme of amalgamation of Gruh Finance with the bank.

Also Read: HDFC gets RBI approval for holding up to 9.9% stake in Bandhan Bank

On April 23, the RBI had given its in-principle approval to Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) for acquiring 9.9 per cent stake in Bandhan Bank following the Gruh Finance deal. HDFC was the largest shareholder in Gruh Finance with 53.78 per cent stake.  Gruh Finance is the affordable housing finance arm of HDFC Ltd.

Earlier in January this year, Bandhan Bank had announced the merger of Gruh Finance with it to bring down promoter holding in the bank to 61 per cent from 82.3 per cent. According to the share-swap ratio, for every 1,000 shares of Gruh Finance, shareholders will get 568 shares of Bandhan Bank.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar

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