In the first-ever public scrutiny of an M&A deal in India, fair trade watchdog CCI on Thursday invited comments from all stakeholders, including general public, on finer details of $ 4-billion merger of Ranbaxy labs into rival drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals.
The comments need to be submitted to the CCI (Competition Commission of India) within 15 days, along with supporting documents on how the merger can adversely impact the concerned person or entity, the regulator said, while adding that it would not consider 'unsubstantiated objections' to the deal.
The CCI said the public consultation process has been launched "in order to determine whether the combination has or is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market in India".
Widening its scrutiny of the multi-billion dollar deal, CCI had asked the two pharma majors on August 27 to make public specific details of their proposed merger.