Aditya Birla Group plans to consolidate its non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to create better synergies and ensure optimal utilisation of resources and greater economies of scale, following approval by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), said people aware of the matter.
The Mumbai bench of the NCLT recently approved the merger of a half-dozen Birla group companies, including Umang Commercial Company Pvt Ltd, Aditya Birla Online Fashion Pvt Ltd and Birla Family Investments Pvt Ltd, into Birla Group Holdings Pvt Ltd (BGHPL), a key holding company of the Aditya Birla Group.
The group also expects to achieve efficient utilisation of capital for enhanced development and growth of the consolidated business under a single entity, including its non-banking financial business, which will continue to constitute its core business, said the people.
The other companies include Birla TMT Holdings Pvt Ltd, Infocyber India Pvt Ltd and Sunbeam Trading & Investments Pvt Ltd.
“The merger scheme will… enable appropriate consolidation of the undertakings of the transferor companies and transferee company,” Birla Group Holdings told the NCLT through its counsel. It will “result in the formation of a larger company having greater capacity to raise and access funds for its business and conducting trade on more favourable terms”, it said.
The group said in its application that it was seeking to simplify organisational structure and reduce the layers of companies within the group.
Shafaq Uraizee Sapre, Mumbai managing partner of law firm Chandhiok and Mahajan, said the amalgamation of these companies with Birla Group Holdings seems to be an effort towards consolidation of the NBFC business by the Birla family.
Birla Group Holdings is an NBFC and three out of the six entities being amalgamated into this company are also NBFCs registered with the Reserve Bank of India.
“The NBFC business, being a capital-intensive business, could benefit from such amalgamation in the long run,” said Uraizee. “A larger capital pool, ease in fundraising and greater possibilities of business expansion could have prompted such amalgamation.”
BGHPL holds equity in several listed group companies, including Hindalco Industries, Grasim, Aditya Birla Capital and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. It also holds stakes in several unlisted companies of the group.
Ruchi Khatlawala Pandya, partner at law firm Little & Co, said an amalgamation of companies can offer several benefits, depending on specific circumstances and goals of the companies involved.
