The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of a 26 per cent stake by Hitachi Payment Services in SBI Payment Services.
The SBI, the largest lender in the country, and payments solution provider Hitachi Payment Services had entered into an agreement in October to form a joint venture for a card acceptance and digital payment platform.
The competition watchdog in a tweet on Friday said it “approves the acquisition of a 26 per cent equity share capital of SBI Payment Services by Hitachi Payment Services”.
The SBI will have a majority stake in the proposed venture. The joint venture will provide various payment options to customers and merchants with a focus on areas such as a a nationwide card acceptance infrastructure, quick response code acceptance, unified payment interface, mass transit sector and e-commerce businesses.
Ageas stake
In a separate tweet, the fair trade regulator said it has given a green signal to Ageas Insurance International’s acquisition of a 40 per cent equity share in Royal Sundaram General Insurance.
Royal Sundaram is a provider of general (non-life) insurance services in India and is a subsidiary of Sundaram Finance Group.
“The CCI approves the acquisition of 40 per cent of the equity share capital of Royal Sundaram General Insurance by Ageas Insurance International N.V,” the regulator said in a tweet.
Ageas, a global insurance service provider, has only an indirect business presence in India now through its investment comprising 26 per cent of the equity shareholding in IDBI Federal Life Insurance.
