HDFC-Max Life merger likely to go through in some form, says Ashvin Parekh

There is another twist to the HDFC-Max Life merger story -- after the Attorney General refused to give his opinion on the proposed merger of their life insurance businesses. HDFC's Keki Mistry in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said an initial public offering (IPO) is always an option. Meanwhile, Max Group's Analjit Singh is confident the merger will get regulatory approval.

However, things are still hanging in the air as far as the merger is concerned and to talk about that CNBC-TV18 spoke to Ashvin Parekh, Managing Partner, Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services.

He said since both the set of shareholders have decided to merge, then irrespective of the structure, the merger should go through in some form. The structure is only one of the means in which this merger will happen.
However, as per media reports if they reexamine the structure then whether they do the IPO first or the merger, it is only a matter of detail, said Parekh.

“As far as the regulatory approval is concerned when two insurance companies registered under the Act come with a scheme to merge, then the regulator will examine and he has all the authority to examine that merger,” he said.