The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the merger of Bengaluru-based Slice with Guwahati-headquartered North East Small Finance Bank, marking a significant step towards the finalization of the merger, which had already received clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October 2023.
This deal has also received the necessary approvals from the Competition Commission of India and the Registrar of Companies.
The Guwahati bench of the NCLT sanctioned the Scheme of arrangement and amalgamation involving Garagepreneurs Internet Pvt Ltd, Quadrillion Finance Pvt Ltd, Intergalactory Foundry Pvt Ltd, RGVN (North East) Microfinance Ltd, and North East Small Finance Bank Ltd, as announced by Tiger Global-backed Slice.
Garagepreneurs is the registered name for Slice, while Quadrillion Finance served as Slice’s in-house non-banking finance company. RGVN (North East) Microfinance operates within North East Small Finance Bank’s microfinance division.
Slice has also received a no-objection certificate from the Income Tax department. Following the merger, Slice, which offers prepaid payment solutions and Unified Payments Interface-based products, plans to provide technology-backed financial services to the customers of North East Small Finance Bank.
In December, it was reported that Satish Kumar Kalra, a former senior executive at Andhra Bank, had been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the merged entity. Additionally, Slice is considering a $100 million equity infusion into the business to support its banking ambitions.
