CCI Clears Sapphire-Devyani Merger and Navi Stake Deal

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared two separate combinations, one in the quick-service restaurant business and one in digital lending and financial services. Both approvals were made public on 31 October 2026.

Sapphire Foods goes into Devyani International

The first clearance covers the merger of Sapphire Foods India Limited with and into Devyani International Limited, together with a set of related transactions that the two sides have placed before the Commission as one proposed combination. Because the merger is framed as Sapphire going with and into Devyani, it is Devyani that continues as the surviving company.

The two firms are in the same line of work, which is what makes the deal interesting for competition law. Devyani runs KFC and Pizza Hut franchise outlets across the country, and Sapphire runs KFC and Pizza Hut franchise outlets in India as well. Devyani's spread is wider than that single pair of brands: it is the exclusive franchisee in India for Costa Coffee, New York Fries and Sanook Kitchen, and it also owns and operates homegrown brands of its own.

MIH Payments picks up a stake in Navi

In the second clearance the Commission allowed the acquisition of a certain shareholding in Navi Limited by MIH Payments Holdings B.V. Navi Limited is the holding company of the Navi Group, which puts a range of financial services in front of customers through a single mobile application, with the products themselves offered by its subsidiaries.

The acquirer is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Prosus N.V. On its own it carries on no operating business at all; what it does is hold investments in portfolio companies that have business activities in India.

Why the Commission is involved

A merger or an acquisition that crosses the thresholds set in competition law cannot be completed until the Commission has looked at it and approved it. The test applied is whether the deal is likely to hurt competition in the relevant market in India.