IDFC Bank Limited (BSE:539437) signed an agreement to acquire Capital First Limited (BSE:532938) from Warburg Pincus India Private Limited, GIC Pte. Ltd., V. Vaidyanathan and other shareholders for INR 93 billion on January 13, 2018. Under the terms of the deal, IDFC Bank will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First. V. Vaidyanathan, currently Chairman and Managing Director of Capital First, will succeed IDFC Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Rajiv Lall as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity upon completion of the merger. Post-merger Rajiv Lall will become non-executive Chairman of IDFC Bank, replacing Veena Mankar who will remain on the Board. Rajiv B. Lall appointed as Part-time Non-Executive Chairman of IDFC Bank, V. Vaidyanathan appointed as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Aashish Kamat, Abhijit Sen, Anand Sinha, Brinda Jagirdar, Desh Raj Dogra, Hemang Raja, Pravir Vohra, Veena Mankar appointed as independent director, Anindita Sinharay appointed as Non-Executive Non-Independent director (representing government of india), Sunil Kakar Non-Executive Non-Independent Director (representing IDFC limited –promoter) and Vishal Mahadevia Non-Executive Non-Independent Director. Srishti Sethi is appointed as Chief Risk Officer. Satish Gaikwad appointed as the Company Secretary. Pankaj Sanklecha appointed as the Chief Financial Officer & Head- Corporate Centre.

The merger is subject to regulatory, shareholders and creditors approvals of IDFC Bank and Capital First, statutory approval, National Company Law tribunal, Competition Commission of India, and approval by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The transaction is approved by the Board of IDFC Bank Limited and Capital First Limited. As on February 19, 2018, National Housing Bank intimidated it's no objection towards the transaction and as of February 20, 2018, the transaction is still subject to approval from RBI and other statutory approvals including approval from the competition commission of India, stock exchanges, SEBI, National Company Law Tribunal and shareholders and creditors of both the companies. As of March 7, 2018, Competition Commission of India has approved the transaction. As of March 14, 2018, BSE limited approved the transaction. As of March 26, 2018, National Stock Exchange of India has given its prior approval for the amalgamation with respect to amalgamated company's trading membership in the currency derivatives segment of National Stock Exchange of India. As of June 6, 2018, Reserve Bank of India has approved the transaction. As of July 28, 2018, meeting of IDFC's credit holders will be convened on September 3, 2018. On August 10, 2018, National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench announced that meeting of the Secured Creditors of Capital First Limited shall be held on October 4, 2018. On September 3, 2018, the shareholders of IDFC Bank approved the transaction. As of October 4, 2018, shareholders of Capital First Limited have approved the transaction. As of October 4, 2018, creditors of Capital First Limited have approved the transaction. As of December 13, 2018, National Company Law tribunal has approved the scheme. The deal is expected to close within 15 months from announcement. IDFC Bank expects the transaction to be accretive to all the shareholders.

Akshay Chudasama, Ashni Roy, Akansha Singh, Neha Shaw, Veena Sivaramakrishnan, Gopalkrishna Hegde, Dhananjai Charan, Yogesh Chande and Gaurav Malhotra of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co acted as legal advisor for Capital First Limited and Ashwath Rau, Anu Tiwari, Vipul Jain, Zia Mody, Aditya Alok, Akshat Kulshrestha, Rahul Shukla, Rahul Rai, Utkarsh Bhatnagar, Rachana Rautray and Sushim Aryan of AZB & Partners acted as legal advisor for IDFC Bank Limited. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited acted as a fairness opinion provider for IDFC Bank Limited.

IDFC Bank Limited (BSE:539437) completed the acquisition of Capital First Limited (BSE:532938) from Warburg Pincus India Private Limited, GIC Pte. Ltd., V. Vaidyanathan and other shareholders on December 18, 2018. The merged entity will be called IDFC First Bank, subject to shareholders approval. As per the terms of the merger agreement shareholders will receive 139 shares of IDFC Bank for 10 shares held in Capital First Ltd. Following the merger, the Board of IDFC Bank today approved the appointment of V. Vaidyanathan, Founder and Chairman of Capital First Ltd, as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the merged entity, subject to shareholders approval.