Law firms

In November Amarchand Mangaldas' Bangalore office bagged a role in four out of six initial public offerings (IPOs), and together with one instruction from Delhi has extended its lead in the top spot of the IPO league tables over Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra and AZB & Partners.

Delhi based boutique competition practice firm Dhall Law Chambers has hired two Indian qualified LLM degree holders from King's College London.

Bangalore-headquartered firm Universal Legal has opened a Mumbai office with one partner and two associates in the Mahalaxmi area.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Trilegal have represented Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) and Heineken International respectively on brokering the agreement to allow United Breweries (UB) to make Heineken brand beer in India.

Two more FoxMandal Little Delhi partners have resigned and started a new full-service law firm with two other FoxMandal partners who left the firm earlier this year.

AZB & Partners senior associate Sunil Jain has joined J Sagar Associates (JSA) Delhi office as a partner to head and start up its direct tax practice.

Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi office is launching a day-care facility for the children of its working mothers in a bid to support and facilitate work-life balance.

Gurgaon-based law firm Kaden Boriss Legal LLP has promoted four of its senior associates to partner in its new limited liability partnership (LLP) structure.

We have asked the firm's management about the joys of LLP.

Khaitan & Co is the latest firm in Delhi to start a competition law practice with the hire of J Sagar Associates (JSA) competition law and policy head Manas Chaudhuri as a partner, who was previously also additional registrar of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Mumbai private equity (PE) boutique ARA Law is mulling opening a Hyderabad office and expanding in Bangalore, having most recently advised on a Rs 60 crore Hyderabad hospital investment by private equity house Milestone Religare Investment Advisors.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton tax partner Nikhil Mehta has resigned and entered into a retainer agreement with Amarchand Mangaldas that could see him spend up to 40 per cent of his time doing non-Indian tax advice for the firm.

The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) has filed a writ in the Bombay High Court against the most recent Union Budget's service tax on law firms, contesting its rationality and constitutional grounds.

Khaitan & Co Bangalore and local boutique Menon Associates have advised on the MindTree acquisition of US handset maker Kyocera Wireless' Indian arm for Rs 29 crores ($6m) and further consideration linked to future revenues.

Amarchand Mangaldas and AZB & Partners capital markets teams have sewn up Tata Steel's $493m (Rs 2,550 crore) convertible bond swap, marking the third joint instruction for the firms on similar deals in the past half-year.

The Delhi offices of Amarchand Mangaldas and Luthra & Luthra have advised Dish TV in issuing GDRs (Global Depository Receipts) worth Rs. 465 crores ($100m) to Apollo Management for an 11 per cent stake in the company.