CCI clears ITC paper business buy, Coinbase DCX deal

New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday cleared three deals, including ITC's acquisition of paper and pulp manufacturing business of Aditya Birla Real Estate for ₹3,498 crore and US cryptocurrency platform Coinbase's purchase of a minority stake in DCX Global.

"The proposed combination refers to the sale of paper and pulp manufacturing business of Aditya Birla Real Estate to ITC, as a going concern, in accordance with the business transfer agreement executed between the parties," the competition watchdog said in a statement. The Aditya Birla group firm had in March announced the divestment of the pulp and paper undertaking situated in Lalkuan, Uttarakhand, by way of a slump sale to ITC.

Announcing its approval to the stake acquisition in DCX Global by Coinbase, the regulator said the latter operates crypto-exchange platforms in more than 100 countries globally and has recently started operations in India. Coinbase had in October announced further investment in CoinDCX, valuing the latter at $2.45 billion post-investment. It had earlier invested in CoinDCX in 2022.


Separately, the CCI cleared a stake acquisition in Logisteed Holdings by Japan Post Co.

"The proposed combination involves the acquisition of a 19.9% equity stake with 14.9% voting rights in the Target by the Acquirer from HTSK Investment LP," the regulator said. -Our Bureau