Law firms

AZB & Partners Mumbai lateral partner and compliance and investigation practice head Ajay Upadhyay has moved to KPMG as a partner in its forensic practice, two years after having joined from E&Y.

Bombay solicitors firm Solomon & Co has expanded to Pune after 109 years of operations only from Mumbai.

Karanjawala & Co has promoted nine associates from Amity Delhi, Amity Noida, Symbiosis Pune, RGNUL Patiala, Llyod Noida and GLC Mumbai to senior associate.

“Airtel will sell a 15% stake in the DTH business to Warburg Pincus entity Lion Meadow Investment for Rs 1,623.76 crore, the telecom firm said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday. Another group company that holds 5% of Bharti Telemedia will offer its entire stake to the PE firm. The deal values Bharti Telemedia at close to Rs 11,300 crore. This may make it India’s second largest DTH player by valuation, according to industry experts,” reported The Economic Times.

"Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest telecom service provider, on Monday said that it has acquired a strategic stake in digital publishing platform Juggernaut Books," reported Mint.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Delhi partner Vishal Anand has died earlier this morning of cardiac arrest following multiple organ failures, after having been admitted to hospital several weeks ago.

“Portea Medical has raised series C funding of $26 million led by new investors Sabre Partners and MEMG CDC. Portea’s existing investors Accel, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Qualcomm Ventures also participated in this round. Avendus Capital provided financial advisory services to the latest funding round in Portea,” reported MediaNama.

Senior Indian law firm partners’ billing rates have increased by around 17% over two years to an average of $335 an hour (Rs 21,580 at current exchange rates) from $292 in 2015 (Rs 18,500 at exchange rates at that time), according to consultancy RSG India's latest research and its figures from 2015.

KKR India Asset Finance, the realty-focused investment unit of global PE Firm KKR & Co. have invested INR 500 crores (USD 82 million) in a township project of the Bangalore-based Bhartiya City Developers Group by extending a term loan facility, as reported by Mint.

In the latest bi-annual rankings compiled by consultancy RSG India, AZB & Partners has topped the table ahead of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), which had topped the table in 2015 when still united in one firm as Amarchand Mangaldas before their break-up (see full table below).

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has appointed another high-profile name to its internal “strategic advisory board”, with the part-time hire of former magic circle firm Allen & Overy’s senior partner David Morley.