Indian Competition Commission clears Advanta-UPL deal

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed merger of seed firm Advanta Ltd with agrochemical major UPL.

In November last year, UPL had announced merger of Advanta with itself as part of its strategy to provide all agri-solutions through one single entity.

For this case, CCI considered "market for seeds in India" as the relevant market.

With the approval, the entire business and whole of the undertakings of Advanta along with its assets, debt, liabilities and employees, among others will be transferred to UPL.

"The boards of directors of UPL Ltd and Advanta Ltd unanimously approved Advanta's merger with UPL, subject to necessary approvals," UPL had said in a filing in November 2015.

Post-merger, UPL's geographical reach would expand and result in cost savings of Rs 90 crore annually.