The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Indriya Limited (the acquirer) acquiring equity shares equal to 14.286 per cent of the post-issue paid up equity share capital of Aditya Birla Housing Finance Limited (the target) on a fully diluted basis through a preferential issue on a private placement basis. The approval follows the filing of the proposed combination and completes the statutory clearance required under the Competition Act. The regulator assessed the competition implications and has cleared the proposed stake acquisition.

Indriya Limited is an investment holding company that currently does not have operations in India and intends to hold the stake as a strategic financial investment. The investment will make Indriya a minority shareholder in the target, and any future operational involvement would be subject to corporate approvals. The parties set out the rationale and structure of the allotment in their filing to the regulator.

Aditya Birla Housing Finance Limited is registered with the National Housing Bank as a non-deposit accepting housing finance company and provides home loans, loans against property, construction finance loans and lease rental discounting loans. The target operates in the regulated housing finance sector and supplies secured lending products to individual and institutional borrowers across India. The filing did not indicate an immediate change to the target's product mix as a consequence of the proposed investment.

The Commission stated that a detailed order will follow and that the public record will be updated with any further material information on the combination. The clearance allows the parties to proceed with implementation steps described in their filing, while any additional approvals under other statutes remain the responsibility of the parties. The regulator's clearance is a procedural milestone in the transaction process and further developments will be reflected in the forthcoming order.