Gauri Chhabra is a Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. She is a law graduate from Amity Law School, Delhi and has completed her Masters in Competition Law from New York University School of Law. Gauri has also worked at the Attorney General’s Office, Antitrust Bureau, New York. Gauri has handled and worked on complex competition law matters, involving innovative solution-oriented structuring and advice, on a full range of competition matters, including cartel enforcement, abuse of dominance, merger control, competition audit and compliance trainings. She has represented Indian and multinational clients across sectors, such as financial services, cement, airlines, steel and manufacturing, before the CCI. Gauri has extensive experience in preparing merger filings and has obtained clearances in all the merger notifications filed with the CCI. She was also part of the 2 out of the total of 4 Form II merger notifications filed with the CCI to date. She renders competition compliance services for clients, which include providing customised competition audits, training staff and manager-level officials, preparing customised compliance manuals and providing dawn raid training and manual. She has also worked closely with the CCI on the development of the merger control regime in India as part of the “Law Firm Working Group”, constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Gauri has written various publications on competition law, including “India’s New Competition Regime Steadily Gaining Ground”, for Competition Law International (Antitrust Journal of International Bar Association), April 2013; India chapter in the ‘The Cartels and Leniency Review’, 1st Edition, Law Business Research Limited, February 2013; India chapters on anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance and merger control for the BRICS book on competition law for International Bar Association, Kluwer Publication, 2012.
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In its Judgment in the Grasim case, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court held that the DG had broad powers of investigation going beyond the specific subject matter of the CCI’s prima facie order directing an investigation. In June 2011, the CCI had passed an order under Section 26(1), (...)
36
The Delhi High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by United India Insurance Company challenging demand notices issued by the CCI requiring payment of interest on penalties imposed by the CCI which were the subject of a stay order by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) hearing an (...)
34
Deciding on an appeal from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), the Supreme Court requested the Director General, CCI (DG) to continue investigating allegations relating to abuse of dominance by Uber in the National Capital Region (NCR). In considering whether the Competition (...)
28
The CCI cleared the proposed merger of health insurer Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company (Apollo Munich) into HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company (HDFC ERGO). HDFC ERGO is a joint venture between HDFC and ERGO International AG. The CCI found that Apollo Munich and the HDFC Group overlapped (...)
578
In a welcome move, on 13 August 2019, amendments to the Combination Regulations were published in The Gazette of India. With effect from 15 August 2019 (India’s Independence Day), parties to notifiable acquisitions, mergers and amalgamations (collectively referred to as “combinations”) will, if (...)
506
In a case with important implications for the budget hotel sector, the CCI rejected at prima facie stage a complaint by RKG Hospitality, a hotelier, that Oravel Stays (OYO), which provides budget accommodation through online booking, had abused its dominant position by imposing one-sided, (...)
423
The CCI rejected at prima facie stage a complaint by the Indian Chemical Council (ICC) that a leading reinsurer, the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), had abused its dominant position. The ICC alleged that GIC was, with its very high market share, dominant in the overall (...)
322
The CCI rejected at prima facie stage a complaint by Unilazer Ventures (Unilazer), a film content creation company, that a number of multiplex cinema operators and their association had colluded in relation to the imposition of a Virtual Print Fee (VPF), revenue sharing arrangements, delays in (...)
242
In April 2019, a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi had declared two provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 unconstitutional and void. All other provisions of the Competition Act were held to be valid subject to a number of orders including that “the Central Government shall take (...)
200
In a case against the Jalgaon District Medicine Dealers Association (Association), the CCI found that the Association had collected Product Information Service (PIS) charges from manufacturers of pharmaceutical products. The CCI found that payment of the PIS charges was mandatory and, (...)
65
The CCI cleared the acquisition by Kedaara Capital Fund (Kedaara), a private equity fund, of an approximately 7.98% stake in Ajax Engineering (Ajax), a manufacturer of concreting equipment. Since there were no horizontal overlaps or vertical relationships, the CCI concluded that the proposed (...)
134
The CCI closed at prima facie stage a case against Vivo Mobile (Vivo), a supplier of mobile handsets, finding that its distribution arrangements raised no concerns under Section 3(4) of the Competition Act which prohibits vertical agreements with an appreciable adverse effect on competition (...)
106
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) found that two chemist associations and two pharmaceutical companies had engaged in a system of no-objection certificates (NOC) under which the associations prescribed which stockist could stock a company’s products.1 The associations and certain of (...)
63
India Competition Law Roundup: June 2019 The Competition Commission of India (CCI) found that two chemist associations and two pharmaceutical companies had engaged in a system of no-objection certificates (NOC) under which the associations prescribed which stockist could stock a company’s (...)
79
The CCI cleared the proposal by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to combine their global consumer healthcare businesses into a joint venture. The CCI considered overlaps in three product segments; non-narcotics/anti-pyretics, antacids/anti-flatulents and calcium preparations. In all three segments (...)
52
The CCI cleared the proposed acquisition of the electrical and automation business of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) by Schneider Electric and MacRitchie Investments (the Acquirers) on foot of a package of behavioural remedies proposed by the Acquirers. After a lengthy investigation, the CCI (...)
104
Following a complaint made by a number of users of smartphones using the Android operating system, the CCI prima facie found that Google was dominant in the market for licensable smart mobile device operating systems in India and had abused its dominant position by requiring device (...)
510
On 6 November 2018, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) found that four manufacturers/traders of flashlights and their trade association (the Opposite Parties) were not involved in cartelisation as, despite an information exchange, there was not enough corroborating evidence to suggest a (...)
523
In an order dated 14 June 2018, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved Bayer AG’s (Bayer) acquisition of Monsanto Company (Monsanto) (together, the Parties) subject to certain modifications. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. represented Monsanto and assisted in seeking the CCI’s (...)
95
Introduction The Government of India, through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”), by way of a notification, has revised the merger control thresholds under the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”) on March 04, 2016, valid for a period of 5 (five) years, ending on March 04, 2021 (“Notification”). (...)
107
Introduction A notification was jointly filed by Mindspace Business Parks Private Limited (“Mindspace”), K. Raheja Corp Private Limited (“KRC”), Trion Properties Private Limited (“Trion”), Gigaplex Estate Private Limited (“Gigaplex”) and Newfound Properties and Leasing Private Limited (“Newfound”), (...)
93
Introduction A notification was filed by FAL Corporation (“FAL”) under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”), pursuant to execution of an agreement amending the Joint Venture Agreement entered between FAL and ICICI Bank Limited (“ICICI”), in relation to its acquisition of additional 9% (...)
92
Introduction A notification was filed by FAL Corporation (“FAL”) under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”), pursuant to execution of an agreement amending the Joint Venture Agreement entered between FAL and ICICI Bank Limited (“ICICI”), in relation to its acquisition of additional 9% (...)
106
Introduction A notice was filed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited (“Sumitomo”) in relation to its acquisition of 2.77% in Reliance Capital Limited (“RCL”), through share subscription. Although the acquisition was for less than 25% and did not entail control, it required a filing with the (...)
115
Introduction Caladium Investment Pte. Ltd. (“Caladium”) is a company incorporated in Singapore and an affiliate of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. Bandhan Financial Services Limited (“BFSL”) is a company registered with the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) as a non-banking financial (...)
74
Introduction The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) directed Piramal Enterprises Limited (“Piramal”) to file a notice pursuant to Section 20(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Act”), read with Regulation 8 of the Competition Commission of India (Procedure in regard to transaction of business (...)
95
Introduction The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has approved the acquisition of Zuari Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (“ZFCL”); and (b) Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited (“ZACL”), together referred to as the “Acquirers”, in Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (“MCFL”), pursuant to a (...)
311
Introduction The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) for the first time has directed divestitures of assets, before granting its final approval, in a combination relating to merger of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (“Ranbaxy”) into Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (“Sun Pharma”) (referred (...)
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1. Introduction 1.1. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the joint venture entered between Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) (...)
243
1. Introduction 1.1. The Competition Commission of India (CCI), while approving the acquisition of 17.36% post issue equity share capital of Standard Greases & Specialties Private Limited (SGSPL) by Alpha TC Holdings Pte Limited (Alpha TC Holdings) and Tata Capital Growth Fund I (TCGF I), (...)
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