Clearing the decks for Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) to invest Rs 720 crore for setting up its single-brand stores in the country, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Wednesday okayed its proposal and also gave its nod to Swiss building materials major Holcim to merge holding firm Holcim India Pvt. ltd (HIPl) with its unit Ambuja Cements ltd as part of the plan to restructure its India operations.
Post the FIPB decision, H&M will market its products through its wholly owned subsidiary H&M Retail India ltd.Holcim, which has majority stakes in two leading Indian cement makers - ACC ltd and Ambuja Cements - had announced its plan in July to consolidate operations in a cash and share deal in a two-step process, valued at about Rs.14,500 crore.
The board though could not take up the proposal of British telecom major Vodafone to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm. “All ministries and departments concerned did not give their comments, so the Vodafone proposal was not taken up,” a Finance Ministry official said after the FIPB meeting.
Comments on the proposal had been sought from the Department of Telecom, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Finance Ministry's Department of Revenue.The plan will be considered at the next FIPB meeting, for which the date has yet to be finalised, the official said.