On January 20, 2021, CCI approved the acquisition of the loan assets of Altico Capital India Ltd. (‘Altico’) by India Special Situations Scheme II (‘ISSS II’), Investment Opportunities V Pte. Limited (‘IOV’) and Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd. (‘ACRE’).  The notice was filed pursuant to Altico unanimously accepting the resolution plan submitted by Ares SSG – the investment advisor to IOV (‘Ares’) for the resolution of its debts.

ISSS II is a scheme under the India Special Situations Trust, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’) as a Category II alternative investment fund. IOV is registered with SEBI as a Category I foreign portfolio investor.

ACRE is registered with the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’), as an asset reconstruction company, and is primarily engaged in the acquisition of, and recovery from bad loans, of banks and financial institutions. Ares is an alternative investment manager and is ultimately (majority) held by Ares Management Corporation (‘AMC’).

The seller, i.e. Altico is a subsidiary of India Credit Pte. Ltd. (‘ICPL’). It is a non-deposit taking non-banking financial company and is engaged in providing loans and financing to small and medium-sized corporates in the real-estate sector in India.

CCI observed that the business activities of Altico and certain investee companies of Ares Group exhibit horizontal overlap in the real estate financing segment in India. However, it found no competition concerns because of the parties’ negligible market shares, and the fragmented nature of the real estate financing segment.