27 October 2010
Most companies when they take over a business or buy out a company pay a non-compete fee to the seller so that the seller waives off the right to continue in similar business.
The issue is becoming contentious due to the high non-compete fees being paid to the seller, with the Vedanta group being a recent example.
The Vedanta group plans to acquire 51-60 per cent of Cairn India for $8.5-9.6 billion in an all-cash deal. As a part of the deal, the promoters will get a non-compete fee of about Rs 6,000 crore. The non-promoter shareholders will not receive non-compete fee.
The new takeover guidelines by the market regulator Sebi propose to abolish the non-compete fees. At present, Sebi allows the non-compete fees to go up to 25 per cent of the offer price.