New Delhi: Competition Commission of India, the fair trade regulator, has approved Adani Power's Rs 6,000 crore deal to acquire Lanco Infratech's 1,200 MW Udupi thermal plant, saying the transaction does not raise anti-competition concerns.
The deal, one of the biggest in the domestic power sector, was announced in August.
Clearing the transaction, CCI said it was not "likely to have appreciable adverse effect on competition" in the country.
"... Post combination the combined market share of the acquirer, both in terms of installed capacity and electricity generation, would not be significant enough to raise any competition concern," CCI said in its order, dated October 24, and released on Thursday.
Besides, the trade watchdog noted that there was no vertical relationship between Adani Power and UPCL as the latter did not use any transmission services provided by Adani Power.
Under the proposed transaction, Adani Power would acquire Udupi Power Corp (UPCL) from Lanco Infratech, Lanco Thermal Power, Portia Properties and certain individual shareholders.
"The proposed combination relates to the business of power generation in India. The power generation market in India is characterised by presence of a large number of players," the official order said.
Making the announcement in August, Lanco Infratech had said the deal was "valued at more than Rs 6,000 crore", which also includes a debt component of Rs 4,000 crore.
"This transaction will support the company in reducing its debt and will enable Lanco to receive about Rs 2,000 crore as cash and additionally, Adani Power will take Udupi plant's long-time debt of around Rs. 4,000 crore," it had said.
