Khaitan & Co will set up an office with two senior members next month to practice non-Singapore law and international arbitration.

According to a release from the firm:

It will focus on delivering legal services on various cross-border M&A transactions, private and public investments; advising high net worth Indian families where the service areas will include international tax and succession planning; and leading and participating in international arbitrations involving Indian law.

The office would be a licensed foreign law practice (FLP) in Singapore, which would allow Khaitan to offer Indian law advice and work on international commercial arbitration work in Singapore.

The office would be headed by two “resident representatives”, who will move from India full-time.

Private clients and M&A partner Anuj Shah will be based in Singapore with the firm’s director, strategy, Jean Muller.

Mumbai-based Shah specialises in advising corporations, financial institutions, private equity sponsors and sovereign wealth funds, as well as M&A.

He also works with Indian promoters on their personal and business dealings, and has been at Khaitan for around 10 years.

He is a 2006 ILS Pune graduate.

Muller, also based in Mumbai, is a member of Khaitan’s management team and has joined the firm around seven years ago.

He is a NUS Singapore graduate in finance and had worked in the strategy field at companies such as Eurostar, the French Trade Commission and similar roles.

At Khaitan, he has been overseeing the firm’s international coverage and business development function, while supporting many other long term strategic initiatives.

In a statement, Khaitan claimed that its “first international office reflects its increasing confidence in inbound and outbound opportunities for its diverse clientele”.

Senior partner Haigreve Khaitan said: “We have been exploring international expansion for a while and Singapore seemed the logical choice for our first foray, based on feedback and encouragement received from both our domestic and international clients.

“We look forward to strengthening our support to our clients on the ground in Singapore. We are extremely enthusiastic about bringing our expertise and in-depth knowledge of Indian law to Singapore and to provide exceptional service to all our clients.

“Our full-service capabilities will now be available locally in Singapore, virtually supported by key subject matter experts from India.”

The move by Khaitan follows Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ recent announcement of setting up a representative office in Singapore.

CAM has not yet announced who would be heading the office, which we understand does not have a license to practice law but is starting out primarily for business development purposes.

We had previously covered a brief history of other firm's Singapore offices (and the many that closed).

Other Indian law firms that still have Singapore office include Nishith Desai Associates and Lexygen (which both, like Khaitan, have a foreign law practice FLP licence). Other firms with representative offices include Kochhar & Co.