Corporate / M&A

Luthra & Luthra is advising ArcelorMittal on its Rs 500 crore ($103m) stake acquisition in Mumbai-based Steel company Uttam Galva Steels.

Covington & Burling and Trilegal have co-operated on the IPO of Indian Energy on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which is only the fourth successful listing this year on the London Stock Exchange-owned smaller market.

Amarchand Mangaldas has acted for Wockhardt in selling 10 hospitals for Rs 909 crore ($186m) to Fortis Healthcare, which was advised by Vaish Associates in Mumbai.

Khaitan & Co has benefited as tour operator Cox & Kings overhauled its roster of IPO advisers, dropping J Sagar Associates (JSA), which had advised on the aborted 2008 flotation.

A raft of law firms have picked up mandates on the four latest initial public offer (IPO) proposals to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), with Amarchand Mangaldas taking two issuer mandates, Luthra & Luthra acting for one company and Rajani Associates for the fourth.

AZB, DSK and Trilegal have done well in Asia Pacific private equity deal rankings despite heavily depressed values and volumes this year.

Desai & Diwanji and J Sagar Associates (JSA) have sealed Essar Steel's Rs 650 crore ($135m) purchase of Shree Precoated Steels, with JSA facing the "challenging" task of acting as joint counsel to both seller and buyer.

Khaitan & Co scored the Mahindra Holidays & Resorts listing in Mumbai, which netted the Mahindra Group around Rs. 275 crore over the past month and to many investors signalled a temporary end to the initial public offering (IPO) drought.

Tata Steel has selected an identical roster of firms to advise on its latest fundraising in London, with Amarchand Mangaldas, Talwar Thakore Associates, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy reprising their roles from the monster 2008 Corus acquisition-related rights issue.

Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co and Jones Day have advised on India's largest initial public offer (IPO) in 18 months for Adani Power's issue, which has so far seen four-fold oversubscription and is hoped to raise between Rs 2,700 and 3,000 crore ($558m to $620m).

Amarchand Mangaldas and Platinum Partners in Mumbai are advising on the Rs 308 crore ($64m) acquisition of a 35 per cent stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) asset management arm by Nomura, which marks Platinum's first instruction for the Japanese bank.

Amarchand Mangaldas is moving on with its second Government divestment instruction, advising NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) on raising around Rs 1,680 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).

Luthra & Luthra and S&R Associates acted as Indian counsel in Indian mining company Sterlite Industries' $1.5bn (Rs 7,200 crore) equity fundraising, with Latham & Watkins and Shearman & Sterling handling the international advice.

Clifford Chance's lateral Amarchand Mangaldas hire has reaped rewards, as Rahul Guptan brought the firm the third Indiabulls Group mandate this year, acting for its underwriting bank.

Kanga & Co Mumbai partner Dhaval Vussonji is leading the team for the original bidder Bharati Shipyard, which already owns a 19.5 per cent stake in Great Offshore.

Despite meagre pickings, Desai & Diwanji, Khaitan & Co, AZB & Partners and Amarchand Mangaldas have topped an M&A league table, together advising on 30 Indian deals worth a total of $9.4bn in the last six months.