NCLAT dismisses petitions against ICICI Securities' delisting process

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday dismissed petitions challenging ICICI Securities' delisting process from stock exchanges.

A Delhi-based two-member NCLAT bench, comprising Justice Yogesh Khanna and Technical Member Ajay Das Mehrotra, dismissed petitions filed by Quantum Mutual Fund and a public shareholder.

The judgment was pronounced by the appellate tribunal in open and a detailed order is awaited.

Quantum Mutual Fund and the public shareholder had challenged an earlier order passed by the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which earlier approved the delisting, dismissing the two petitions, in August last year.

The order was subsequently challenged by both the petitioners, alleging undervaluation of shares and manipulation before the appellate tribunal, which on Monday dismissed it.

As per the scheme of arrangement, shareholders of ICICI Securities (ISEC) will get 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares they hold.

ICICI Securities declared that it would delist and continue as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICICI Bank in June 2023.

In March 2024, the plan was accepted by shareholders, with 72 per cent of minority shareholders voting in favour of it. The plan was authorised by the ICICI Bank board on June 29, 2023.

However, public shareholders Manu Rishi Gupta and Quantum Mutual Fund had opposed the delisting of ICICI Securities, claiming that the swap would negatively impact minority shareholders.