Law firms

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.

Commerce ministry joint secretary Sudhanshu Pandey told a US-Indian delegation today that the government would seek to pass an amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act this session that would allow foreign lawyers to come to India to act for their clients in arbitrations in order to boost domestic arbitrations.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) Mumbai office managing partner Akshay Chudasama is acting for Warburg Pincus, which is buying a Rs 1,800 crore minority stake in Piramal Realty, which was advised by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ Mumbai office.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) funds formation partner Jay Gandhi and his team of five associates will join Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) in Mumbai under former JSA senior partner and SAM Mumbai Akshay Chudasama.