NCLT reserves HDFC-HDFC Bank merger order, say sources

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has reserved the order for its approval of the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and HDFC Bank merger, sources said.

Reserving the order means that the NCLT has heard HDFC and HDFC Bank's counsels and needs time for the final judgement.

Sources said that the order has been reserved for now and no further date for the hearing has been given by NCLT.

Before this, HDFC had already received the required approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), shareholders of HDFC and HDFC Bank, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

In addition to this, the company had also received a no objection certificate (NOC) from both stock exchanges.

Also read: HDFC, HDFC Bank merger to create third-largest company in India

The HDFC-HDFC Bank merger, which was announced on April 4, 2022, is dubbed one of the largest mergers in India's corporate history. The merger, in terms of market capitalisation, is set to create the third largest company in the country, with the amalgamated entity estimated to have a combined asset base of around Rs 18 lakh crore.

After the complete deal and merger, existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 percent of the HDFC bank.

Also read: Deepak Parekh exclusive interview | HDFC and HDFC Bank need to have a common culture

In January 2023, in an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh termed the shrinking arbitrage between non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks in terms of RBI regulations as the key driver for the merger.