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Corporate reorganisations take centre stage at Bombay Chamber seminar

Mumbai: The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, through its Direct Tax Committee, hosted a seminar on Recent Trends in Corporate Reorganisation, offering a comprehensive platform for dialogue and insight into evolving approaches to tax and corporate structuring.

The seminar featured two focused panel discussions — Strategic value unlocking and promoter shareholding realignment, and IPO and upside sharing — both moderated by Ravikant P Kamath, Chairperson of the Direct Tax Committee, Bombay Chamber and Partner at Ernst & Young LLP.

Expert speakers shared perspectives on key aspects of corporate reorganisation, including strategic value unlocking, realignment of promoter shareholding, upside sharing mechanisms, and fast-track mergers and demergers. Case studies based on recent trends offered attendees practical frameworks to navigate increasingly complex reorganisation scenarios.

In the first session, Navin Jain, Taxation Director – South Asia, Hindustan Unilever Ltd; K Mahesh, Vice President & Group Head – M&A and Divestments, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, and Archit M Shah, Tax Partner, EY India, shared their experiences on aligning reorganisation strategies with long-term business goals. Discussions focused on tax implications and value creation arising from promoter realignments and transaction structuring.

The second session, centered on initial public offerings and upside sharing, featured insights from Tejas Mody, Tax Partner at EY India and Nikhil Naredi, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, and moderator Kamath. Their commentary addressed the shifting deal landscape — from private transactions to public offerings — alongside complexities such as lock-in restrictions and withholding tax during offer for sale (OFS) events.

Additional themes covered included advance tax obligations, cost of acquisition, accounting and disclosure frameworks, tax treaty compliance, evolving tax insurance practices, and valuation methodologies within earn-out structures and cross-border mergers or demergers.

The interactive format allowed participants to engage with EY M&A Tax Partners, who provided hands-on guidance for navigating structuring challenges across sectors. The seminar underscored the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration and regulatory clarity in executing successful reorganisations.

(Write to us at editorial@bombaychamber.com)