CCI seeks more info on Adani's IntelliSmart deal

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has requested additional details from Adani Energy Solutions regarding its proposed acquisition of IntelliSmart Infrastructure for a sum of ₹3,050 crore. As of Thursday evening, the acquisition remained in an "information incomplete" status on the CCI's website, two months after the parties submitted their notice on July 27.

Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) announced the acquisition, stating that the deal would position them as India's leading smart metering platform, boasting a portfolio of over 4.7 crore (47 million) smart meters. IntelliSmart Infrastructure is a joint enterprise between the state-owned National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) and is among India's top three players in the smart metering sector, with more than 2.2 crore (22 million) meters across five states.

The acquisition agreement was signed by AESL on June 9, with completion contingent on antitrust approval and expected within 180 days. Industry observers noted that the time taken to respond to regulatory inquiries does not impact the CCI's review timeframe, emphasizing that such requests are typical. The proposed merger would see the Adani Group, known for its involvement in electricity transmission and distribution and advanced metering infrastructure deployment in India, overlap horizontally with IntelliSmart in electricity AMI deployment and smart gas meters.

Additionally, both entities share vertical overlaps in the deployment of piped natural gas (PNG) city gas distribution meters and the provision of cloud services in India, where they possess overlaps or connections.