Mirah Hospitality with Desai & Diwanji; Amarchand, Rajani, Khaitan on $350m Welspun PE; Luthra in EU pharma tax case; ELP AP tax victory for MAS-GMR; Khaitan-Clifford on StanChart loan; SRGR-KJSV project; JSA-Prolegal consultancy.
Desai & Diwanji Delhi partner Amit Khansaheb led on Mirah Hospitality and Food Solutions investment of Rs 40 crore ($8.75m) in Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality, which was advised by Trilegal Mumbai partner Amit Tambe and associate Aninda Pal. Desai & Diwanji’s team also included associate partners Rachna Jain and Aneesh Gupte, senior associate Vishruta Kaul and associate Bhumi Kothari. Existing Impresario investor Beacon India Investors also increased its stake by Rs 8 crore.
Media
Naik Naik & Co won in the Supreme Court to secure the release of controversial movie Aarakshan in three further states. [Legally India]
Private equity
Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi partner Gunjan Shah advised Apollo Management, which invested $350m in Welspun Group. Rajani Associates partner Sangeeta Lakhi and associates Tomu Francis and Pradnesh Warke advised Welspun on $115m of investments through non-voting global depository receipts (GDRs), while Khaitan & Co Mumbai partners Haigreve Khaitan and Anand Mehta advised the company on $185m of fully/compulsorily convertible debentures (FCDs/CCDs). [VCCircle]
European Tax
Luthra & Luthra partner Moushami Joshi won a case for three Indian exporters Ranbaxy Laboratories, Lupin and Surya Pharmaceuticals – the largest pharmaceutical exporters with a stake in the European Union market - before the European Commission to scrap an antibiotics import duty from between 17 to 30 per cent, said Joshi. The Luthra team also included Bhupender Singh, Ashish Chandra and Purva Juneja, as well as partner Sanjeev Sachdeva, while the European complainant pharmaceutical companies DSM and Sandoz instructed Vermulst, Verhaeghe and Graafsma & Bronckers. [Hindu Business Line]
Tax
ELP senior partner Vikram Nankani and associate Kishore Kunal advised MAS-GMR (Malaysian Aerospace-GMR Hyderabad International Airport joint venture) before the Andra Pradesh High Court appealing against the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) decision that service tax would apply to the proposed joint venture. . The AAR had ruled against MAS-GMR that service tax will apply on the proposed joint venture that would provide maintenance, repair and overhauling (MRO) facilities to domestic and foreign airlines. [ELP case summary note]
Banking
Khaitan & Co Mumbai partner Devidas Banerji advised Standard Chartered Bank on its $95m and €20m term loan facility provided to Kotak Mahindra Bank for general corporate purposes, with Clifford Chance partner Ranbir Hunjan acting as English law counsel to Standard Chartered.
Projects
SRGR Law Offices partner Ravi Bishnoi, senior associate Abhishek Awasthi and associate Nidhi Gulati advised on Sunborne Energy’s 15 MW solar project, which was financed by State Bank of Patiala that was advised by Khaitan Jayakar Sud and Vohra partner Tanuj Sud.
Corporate M&A
J Sagar Associates (JSA) partner Sandeep Mehta and associates Mitesh Shah and Yashodhara Ghorpade advised Bureau Veritas Group on the full acquisition of consultancy business CIVIL-AID Technoclinic from the Indian resident shareholders. Prolegal partner K Suresh acted for the Indian resident shareholders of CIVIL-AID.
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