Law firms

Bertelsmann India Investments did a follow-on investment with Goldman Sachs, Zodius Capital and Norwest Venture Partners in the operator of Indian furniture online shop Pepperfry.com, which saw a $100m financing round, reported Mint and others.

Pepperfry was advised by BMR Legal Bangalore partner Siddharth Nair.

S&R partners Rajat Sethi and Rachael Israel and associate Raya Hazarika acted for Bertelsmann.

Nishith Desai Associates Mumbai M&A practice co-head Simone Reis acted for Goldmans.

Khaitan & Co partner Siddharth Shah, associate partner Surbhi Kejriwal, senior associate Abhiraj Krishna and associate Aayush Tainwala acted for Zodius. They were assisted by partner Bijal Ajinkya and senior associate Aditi Mukundan on tax issues.

Khaitan Sud & Partners (KSP) is facing a recovery suit in the Saket district court, Delhi, filed by its former senior associate Pankaj Kumar for the arrears of his retainership fee.

Brus Chambers, a Mumbai-based law firm has opened a subsidiary firm headquartered in New York.

Themis Associates partner Chetan Nagendra, who specialises in corporate and venture capital (VC) work, will join AZB & Partners in Bangalore.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as legal counsel to BNP Paribas in its Rs 2,000 to 2,200 crore acquisition of Sharekhan, with AZB & Partners acting for the sellers.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai partners Somasekhar Sundaresan, Vikram Raghani and Jamshed Bhumgara acted for the management shareholders of Sharekhan.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai-based corporate partners Ashwath Rau and Shishir Vayttaden led the team for BNP. Senior advisor Anand Sinha, who was formerly deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), advised on regulatory aspects, while Bangalore-based employment partner Rashmi Pradeep assisted with labour law-related advice.

Tax advice was handled by Cyril Amarchand New Delhi-based tax partner SR Patnaik, while Mumbai-based partner Nisha Kaur Uberoi handled the competition law aspects.

AZB Mumbai-based partner Vaidhyanadhan Iyer acted for the multiple sellers.

The Rs 2,000 crore deal was signed on 30 July 2015 and is expected to close by 31 January 2016. The online share trading platform’s sale to BNP has been hailed as a vote of confidence in India’s equity market, reported Economic Times.

J Sagar Associates’ (JSA) partnership will elect seven partners into its executive committee in the coming months, out of whom two will become joint managing partners in an election slated for October.

Slovakian railway wagon manufacturer Tatravagoka AS, advised by Khaitan & Co, has acquired 50 per cent stakes in Jupiter Wagons and Jupiter Alloys and Steel, advised by Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, in a deal reportedly worth Rs 100 crore ($15.6m).

Jupiter, which is one of India’s biggest railway freight car manufacturers, was advised by Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas partner Abhishek Guha, senior associate Aditya Mehra, and associate Roma A Das.

Tatravagonka drafted in Khaitan & Co Mumbai Mumbai associate partner Kartick Maheshwari on the transactional side, and associate partner Yigal Gabriel on the real estate side.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited acted as Jupiter's financial adviser, while Alpen Capital acted for Slovakian company as its financial adviser.

Jupiter Wagons and Jupiter Alloys and Steel are set to be merged after this transaction completed on 14 July.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas has continued its association with the international referral network Lex Mundi, according to a press release by the firm and the network.