NCLT orders Idea to call meeting of creditors on Oct 12

The Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered Idea Cellular to convene a meeting of its shareholders and creditors on October 12.

The meeting will see the shareholders and creditors voting for or against the proposed $23-billion (approximately ~1.47 lakh crore) merger with Vodafone India.

The NCLT bench also appointed former chief justice of Bombay High Court, M H Shah, to chair the meeting.

Idea's parent Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone India had announced their merger on March 20. It had said Kumar Mangalam Birla would become the the chairman of the new entity. After the merger, Vodafone would own 45.1 per cent stake in the new entity, while Aditya Birla Group would have a 26 per cent stake after paying ~3,874 crore cash for a 4.9 per cent stake.

The remaining 28.9 per cent would be held by other shareholders. The deal, however, excludes Vodafone India's 42 per cent share in Indus Towers. The merger has already received a nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on July 24.

On August 4, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) also gave a conditional go ahead, subject to the outcome of an ongoing probe by it and approvals from shareholders and the NCLT. Sebi is examining allegations on one of Idea's promoters purchasing 0.23 per cent shares of the company before the merger announcement.

On August 7, Idea had filed an application before the NCLT's Ahmedabad bench regarding the same.