UK firm Penningtons has kick-started its India practice with the hire of former Platinum Partners associate Saionton Basu and UK South-East firm EMW-Picton Howell former merger partner Teja Picton-Howell.

Phoenix Legal and Hogan Lovells’ Japanese office have advised advised Japan’s Sojitz Corporation on its joint venture with South Indian business conglomerate Archean Group top operate a marine chemicals plant in India.

AZB & Partners, Talwar Thakore & Associates, Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters and Vinson & Elkins have advised on oil major British Petroleum’s (BP) record acquisition of 30 per cent of 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts (including the KG D6 block) operated by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for a consideration of $7.2bn (Rs 32,500 crore).

Luthra & Luthra has advised a Power Finance Corporation-led consortium of 27 lenders to fund KSK Mahanadi’s Rs 16,190 crore power project in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Exclusive: Almost half of a sample of India’s fastest growing companies still relied on domestic law firms to introduce them to foreign law firms, according to a report.

Amarchand and MMB Legal with London firms Nabarro and Taylor Wessing on complex deal between Infrastructure India and Guggenheim involving AIM fundraising and two asset acquisitions.

Exclusive: The former Bharucha & Partners senior associate and 2006 NUJS Kolkata graduate is in the process of taking on board three more equity partners to create a national law firm.

Exclusive: Test prep company Career Launcher takes on Rs 50 crore private equity cash for school chain.

ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain advised the organising company of Canadian crooner Bryan Adams’ India tour that kicked off in Mumbai and Pune last weekend.

Exclusive: The office head of Vaish Associates’ one-year-old Bangalore office K R Vasudevan has quit for a multinational company following internal politics and the office’s strategic shift from tax to corporate work, with a Mumbai associate now taking charge of the branch.

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) and traditional outsourcing company CPA Global has appointed London law firm SJ Berwin’s retired senior partner as its new chairman.

Exclusive: R&A Legal, S&R Associates, Latham & Watkins, Spanish firm Uria Menendez and India Law Services have advised on the internal restructuring of Spanish infrastructure company Grupo Isolux Corsan’s investments into an Indian Rs 4,518 crore ($997m) road project.

Exclusive: Allen & Overy (A&O) and its Indian best friend firm Trilegal have extended their preferred referral arrangement indefinitely after having first entered into it for a limited three-year term.

Exclusive: Delhi-based intellectual property (IP) boutique IP Gurus has acted for the manufacturers of Rubik’s Cubes resulting in police arrests of four alleged counterfeit cube puzzle sellers.

Vaish Associates has advised Pune-based Infospectrum on the sale of its outsourced product development (OPD) business to Persistent Systems, advised in-house by its company secretary and legal head.

Crawford Bayley & Co has advised Clariant Chemicals on Rs 240 crore ($53m) real estate transaction involving the sale of its Mumbai-suburban factory premises to Kalpataru Builders-owned Ananta Landmarks, which hired Mumbai law firm Federal & Rashmikant as legal counsels.

Luthra & Luthra and DLA Piper have bagged the 12,500 crore ($2.75bn) follow-on share sale of ONGC, beating five other law firms in a competitive tender, with Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi winning the mandate for the bankers.

Clifford Chance joined hands with J Sagar Associates (JSA) and AZB & Partners to jointly advise Bayer Healthcare on its JV with Cadila Healthcare.

AZB & Partners was the busiest private equity legal advisor of 2010 ahead of ALMT Legal and Indus Law tied in second place followed by DSK Legal and Tatva Legal. Amarchand Mangaldas and Trilegal came in fourth and fifth places respectively, according to a volume-based league table by data provider Venture Intelligence.

Exclusive: PXV Law Partners and Indus Law Advocates have advised on Rs 15 crore venture capital investment in a start up Glocal Hospital by private equity firms Sequoia Capital and Elevar Equity to develop health care facilities in rural West Bengal.