It is fair to say that a sizable number of Indian senior associates and junior partners are preoccupied with equity, or rather a lack of it.

London-headquartered Essar Energy Plc has hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer senior associate Sheena Singla as its first general counsel (GC) to oversee future M&A and regulation at the FTSE 100 company company.

Majmudar & Co has hired former ING in-houser, Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) law officer and Ministry of Corporate Affairs-officer Abdul Rasheed as an associate partner in Bangalore, as well as taking on a principal in the Mumbai tax group.

Khaitan & Co and Kanga & Co have assisted on the sale of more than 74,000 square metres of industrial real estate in Andheri East, Mumbai from Borosil Glass Works to Neepa Real Estate Private Limited for Rs 830 crore ($178m).

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan has hired two partners from intellectual property (IP) firm Remfry & Sagar, including its head of patents, to head up its IP practice in Delhi.

EXCLUSIVE: Khaitan & Co has hired Symbiosis graduate Rajat Mukherjee as an “associate partner”, which is the first time a non-equity salaried partner has joined the firm under the revamped partnership structure.

Khaitan & Co and White & Case LLP have advised Indian-listed transmission tower manufacturer KEC International in its $ 95m acquisition of US-based SAE Towers Holdings LLC which was advised by Hogan Lovells LLP.

Project finance law firms R&A Legal and India Law Services have advised on the Rs 970 crore ($210m) term loan and bank guarantee between Navayuga Engineering Company Limited and Bank of Baroda led bank consortium for the financing and development of India’s largest private sector port at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Luthra & Luthra partner Vineet Aneja, who had re-joined his former firm from FoxMandal in Delhi one year ago, has resigned to look for more “entrepreneurial” opportunities.

Amarchand Mangaldas equity corporate partner Himanshu Narayan has resigned the firm to join Dua Associates in Delhi.

Majmudar & Co and Herbert Smith have assisted port infrastructure company Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited in launching their foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issuance of $280m last month.

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired dual-qualified chartered accountant and lawyer DD Nageswar Rao as a partner in Delhi. Rao’s was formerly the India country head of tax at Siemens, with his over 20-year career also including similar roles at the Coca Cola India and Colgate.

Private equity giant Blackstone has widened its circle of standing Indian advisers to include Desai & Diwanji on its latest investments in the power sector, having used Khaitan & Co on its previous two major deals. Luthra & Luthra advised its long-standing clients Moser Baer Projects in the $300m stake buy, and Clarus Law led for Monnet Power Company on Blackstone’s $70m investment.

The law ministry is considering setting up a law firm regulator with a code of conduct to govern law firms in order to end the “free environment without any regulations”, reported the Hindustan Times.

Luthra & Luthra has hired DSK Legal associate partner Deepak THM as a private equity and M&A partner in its growing Mumbai office, taking the total headcount to five partners.

AZB & Partners and Khaitan & Co have assisted in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Rs 1020 crore ($217m) buy today of a 14.12 per cent stake in the Oberoi hotel and resort chain owners.

Khaitan & Co and Majmudar & Co have advised French IT services group Atos Origin in its 100 per cent acquisition of Indian e-payments processing unit Venture Infotek Global for around $99m in order to set-up an integrated Hi-Tech Transactional Services (HTTS) company Atos Wordline in India.

LexCounsel has advised longstanding clients Educomp Solutions on its 67 per cent acquisition of engineering coaching institute Vidya Mandir for Rs 34 crore and venture capital (VC) fund Leapstart Trust on its second portfolio investment into hospitality service provider Bliss Inns.

Khaitan & Co along with London-based marine insurance and admiralty specialist Walton & Morse LLP have settled $ 2.9 m dispute between Sesa Goa and a German Shipping conglomerate following an international maritime arbitration.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai office has formalised its policies of long-term interships for students and articled clerks by making these subject to regular reviews in an attempt to put shorter internship programmes on an equal footing and attract a greater variety of law students.