AZB & Partners’ Mumbai and Delhi offices advised on both sides of the financial services joint venture between India’s largest private sector enterprise Reliance Industries and US investment group D E Shaw with Debevoise & Plimpton and Covington & Burling.

It is understood that Covington & Burling Washington-based partner Ralph Voltmer led the transaction for Reliance, advising on New York laws, with AZB & Partners Mumbai partner Shuva Mandal drawn in to lead for Reliance Industries.

AZB Delhi partner Vinati Kastia advised her long-standing client D E Shaw group, with support from Delhi-based co-founding partner Ajay Bahl and senior associates Ritika Rathi, Satyajit Gupta, Aparna Mehra and Bharat Bahadur.

Debevoise & Plimpton corporate law partners Michael J Gillespie in New York and Geoffrey P Burgess in London led negotiations for D E Shaw on aspects of non-Indian laws.

It is understood that because Covington Burling’s lead on the deal for Reliance, clients were not concerned about the conflict of AZB acting for both sides of the JV.

The joint venture has been forged to target financial services business in India with D E Shaw’s investment and technology expertise and Reliance Industries’ operational knowledge and extensive reach in the country.

D E Shaw group had approximately $19bn investment capital as on January 2011.