The term ‘Amalgamation’ or ‘Merger’ or ‘De-merger’ is not defined in the Companies Act, 1956. Chapter V of Part VI of Companies Act comprising sections 390 to 396A contain provisions regarding Compromises, Arrangement and Reconstructions.
In simple terms, a Merger or Amalgamation is an arrangement whereby the assets of two or more companies become vested in one company (which may or may not be one of the original two companies). It is a legal process by which two or more companies are joined together to form a new entity or one or more companies are absorbed by another company and as a consequence the amalgamating company loses its existence and its shareholders become the shareholders of the new or amalgamated company.
De-merger is an arrangement whereby some part /undertaking of one company is transferred to another company which operates completely separate from the original company. Shareholders of the original company are usually given an equivalent stake of ownership in the new company.
De-merger is undertaken basically for two reasons. The first as an exercise in corporate restructuring and the second is to give effect to kind of family partitions in case of family owned enterprises. A de-merger is also done to help each of the segments operate more smoothly, as they can now focus on a more specific task.
Examples of Mergers & Demergers:
- Maruti Motors operating in India and Suzuki based in Japan amalgamated to form a new company called Maruti Suzuki (India) Limited
- DCM Ltd. demerged into DCM Ltd., DCM Shriram Industries Ltd., DCM Engineering Industries Ltd., and Rath Foods Ltd.
SECTION 2: UNDERSTANDING SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
1. AMALGAMATION/MERGER:
Accounting Standard 14 defines amalgamation as –
“Amalgamation means an amalgamation pursuant to the provisions of Companies Act, 1956 or any other statute which may be applicable to companies”.
AS 14 provides for two types of amalgamation: “Amalgamation in the nature” of merger and “Amalgamation in the nature of purchase”. Amalgamation in the nature of merger is an amalgamation which satisfies all the following conditions.
(i) All the assets and liabilities of the transferor company become, after amalgamation, the assets and liabilities of the transferee company.
(ii) Shareholders holding not less than 90% of the face value of the equity shares of the transferor company (other than the equity shares already held therein, immediately before the amalgamation, by the transferee company or its subsidiaries or their nominees) become equity shareholders of the transferee company by virtue of the amalgamation.
(iii) The consideration for the amalgamation receivable by those equity shareholders of the transferor company who agree to become equity shareholders of the transferee company is discharged by the transferee company wholly by the issue of equity shares in the transferee company, except that cash may be paid in respect of any fractional shares.
(iv) The business of the transferor company is intended to be carried on, after the amalgamation, by the transferee company.
(v) No adjustment is intended to be made to the book values of the assets and liabilities of the transferor company when they are incorporated in the financial statements of the transferee company except to ensure uniformity of accounting policies.
Amalgamation in the nature of purchase is an amalgamation which does not satisfy any one or more of the conditions specified in sub-paragraph (e) above.
According to Income Tax Act amalgamation means:
“amalgamation“, in relation to companies, means the merger of one or more companies with another company or the merger of two or more companies to form one company (the company or companies which so merge being referred to as the amalgamating company or companies and the company with which they merge or which is formed as a result of the merger, as the amalgamated company) in such a manner that:
(i) All the property of the amalgamating company or companies immediately before the amalgamation becomes the property of the amalgamated company by virtue of the amalgamation;
(ii) All the liabilities of the amalgamating company or companies immediately before the amalgamation become the liabilities of the amalgamated company by virtue of the amalgamation;
(iii) Shareholders holding not less than 3three-fourths in value of the shares in the amalgamating company or companies (other than shares already held therein immediately before the amalgamation by, or by a nominee for, the amalgamated company or its subsidiary) become shareholders of the amalgamated company by virtue of the amalgamation.
2. DEMERGER
Section 2(19AA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 added by the Finance Act, 1999 provides that “demerger” in relation to companies, means the transfer, pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under sections 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), by a demerged company of its one or more undertakings to any resulting company in such a manner that:
(i) All the property of the undertaking, being transferred by the demerged company, immediately before the demerger, becomes the property of the resulting company by virtue of the demerger;
(ii) All the liabilities relatable to the undertaking, being transferred by the demerged company, immediately before the demerger, become the liabilities of the resulting company by virtue of the demerger;
(iii) The property and the liabilities of the undertaking or undertakings being transferred by the demerged company are transferred at values appearing in its books of account immediately before the demerger;
(iv) The resulting company issues, in consideration of the demerger, its shares to the shareholders of the demerged company on a proportionate basis;
(v) The shareholders holding not less than three-fourths in value of the shares in the demerged company (other than shares already held therein immediately before the demerger, or by a nominee for, the resulting company or, its subsidiary) become share-holders of the resulting company or companies by virtue of the demerger, otherwise than as a result of the acquisition of the property or assets of the demerged company or any undertaking thereof by the resulting company;
(vi) The transfer of the undertaking is on a going concern basis;
(vii) The demerger is in accordance with the conditions, if any, notified under sub-section (5) of section 72A by the Central Government in this behalf.
In cases of demergers where only one of the many undertakings or part of an undertaking is transferred as an exercise in corporate restructuring, the transferor company would continue to exist to carry on its other businesses. However in case where all the undertakings of a business are transferred to different transferee companies, there is no need for the transferor company to exist and therefore it can be dissolved without winding up.
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