Deals Feed

Desai & Diwanji and UK international firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have jointly acted on Indian publicly listed Elecon Engineering’s acquisition of the UK’s Benzler-Radicon group of businesses for £18.4m and other global business arms.

Exclusive: Boutique startup Finsec Law Advisors has been drafted into the long-running MCX Stock Exchange dispute with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that will again hit the Bombay High Court, alongside Naik Paranjpe & Co and J Sagar Associates (JSA).

AZB & Partners and Economic Laws Practice (ELP) have advised in the private equity investment led by Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) and Cisco in the IT hosting service provider Netmagic Solutions resulting in a 12 per cent equity buy worth Rs 46.5 crore ($10.6m).

Khaitan & Co, Wadia Ghandy, Simmons & Simmons and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have advised on Barclays Bank’s reinvestment in the outsourcing unit Intelenet involving an all-cash acquisition of a 12.75 per cent stake in its holding company SKR BPO Services Private Limited.

Crawford Bayley and Dorsey & Whitney have won the mandate to advise public sector undertaking SAIL on its follow-on public offer (FPO) to raise Rs 8,000 crore.

Majmudar & Co and UK firm TLT have acted as legal counsel to the lender Punjab National Bank (International) Limited [PNBIL] in two cross-border loans to finance the acquisition and operation of US-based and Indonesian mining groups.

AZB & Partners, Indus Law, ALMT Legal and Trilegal have topped data provider Venture Intelligence’s private equity league tables for the first nine months of this year.

AZB & Partners has acted for private equity (PE) firm Matrix Partners India in its Rs 50 crore investment in New Delhi based eye-care hospital chain Centre for Sight (CFS) which was advised by SRGR Law Offices.

Exclusive: Amarchand Mangaldas has reclaimed the top rank in Legally India’s 2010-11 first-half-year initial public offering (IPO) league table ahead of Luthra & Luthra, with AZB & Partners winning third place after doubling its IPO mandates compared to the same period last year as Khaitan & Co dropped four ranks.

Five law firms including Amarchand & Mangaldas, Luthra & Luthra, S & R Associates, Crawford Bayley & Co and Fox Mandal have been selected to pitch for the SAIL (Steel Authority of India) first phase 10 per cent share disinvestment, expecting to enrich the Exchequer by Rs 8,000 crores, reported the Economic Times.

Naik Paranjpe & Co has yesterday secured the scheduled release of Sanjay Dutt-starring Hindi film Knock Out for its Indian producer clients by getting a stay on the movie vacated after initial allegations of copyright violation by Twentieth Century Fox were heard in the Bombay High Court on Monday.

Luthra & Luthra has built on its lead in the Dealogic Indian project finance league table of the first three quarters of 2010, as Amarchand Mangaldas completed four project financings in the last quarter and caught up into second place ahead of newcomers such as Axon Partners LLP and R&A Legal Advocates. Globally the top two firms are also in the top 10 of project finance legal advisers by value.

AZB & Partners has topped the mergermarket league table for the first three quarters of 2010 in a record year of M&A activity so far. The firm is followed in the rankings by Desai & Diwanji, Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co and newcomer Tatva Legal according to the total number of mandates.

FoxMandal Delhi acted as the lender’s sole legal counsel for state power sector unit Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and others in the development of a 1,320MW thermal power project in Andhra Pradesh.

Amarchand Mangaldas Bangalore and Indus Law Advocates advised on private equity funds Sandstone Capital and Sequoia Capital’s Rs 200 crore minority stake investment in India’s largest domestic handset maker Micromax.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Amarchand Mangaldas and Dorsey & Whitney have won the government's mandate on the $1.8bn follow-on public offer (FPO) by Power Grid Corporation of India.

Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) and J Sagar Associates (JSA) have inked a joint venture (JV) between Reliance Broadcast Network and US TV giant CBS Studios International respectively to pave the way for the creation of three new television channels and Reliance group’s foray into the television broadcasting industry.

S&R Associates has landed the $9.6bn corporate takeover of long-groomed client Cairns India by UK mining giant Vedanta Resources, which was advised by AZB & Partners as Scottish firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and US firm Latham & Watkins stepped up internationally.

FoxMandal Little and French international firm Gide Loyrette Nouel won the government's mandate to take Manganese Ore (India) Ltd (MOIL) to its initial public offering (IPO) by putting in the lowest bid-price yet compared to recent disinvestments.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has won a Bombay High Court order for its long-standing client MCX Stock Exchange, which ordered the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which was represented by Mumbai law firm K Ashar & Co, to make a decision on whether to allow MCX to become a full-fledged stock exchange.

Bhasin & Co won a favourable verdict for its longstanding clients Apollo Hospitals that absolved the hospital company of any criminal liability for the individual negligent act of its doctor because mens rea or guilty intention cannot be ascribed to a company which is only a juristic person.

Amarchand Mangaldas' Delhi office and Dorsey & Whitney have won the bid on the Hindustan Copper divestment while Khaitan & Co bagged the underwriter's mandate.

Amarchand also won the role for the underwriters on the mammoth Coal India stake sale with Ashurst as international counsel while Luthra had won the tender to advise the company.

Luthra & Luthra jointly topped Legally India's quarterly IPO league tables for the first time alongside Amarchand Mangaldas over the first quarter of the 2010-11 financial year with five mandates each while AZB & Partners slotted into third place.

Two offices of AZB & Partners acted on opposite sides of a Chinese Wall for private equity investor Matrix India and gold loan company Muthoot Finance in a 4 per cent investment totalling Rs 157 crore with Luthra & Luthra advising second investor Baring Private Equity Partners India.

Khaitan & Co's recent White & Case lateral hire has advised Reliance Industries and Infotel Broadband Services on a $500m loan to finance its broadband wireless access (BWA) auction win. Linklaters and Juris Corp advised the lead lender RBS.

AZB & Partners advised Japanese steel giant JFE that bought 14.9 per cent for $1.02bn in India's third largest steel maker JSW, which was advised by Amarchand Mangaldas.

Start-up firm Axon Partners LLP has advised Shiv-Vani Oil & Gas Exploration Services on its $75m convertible bond issue with Norton Rose's Singapore office getting into the capital markets game by advising the deal's London underwriters Jefferies International.

Luthra & Luthra was the most active project finance legal advisers both by value and volume in the first half of 2010, followed by India Law Services, SJ Law Advocates & Solicitors,  Amarchand Mangaldas and AZB & Partners and SN Gupta & Co, according to data compiled for Legally India by data provider Dealogic.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised US spice-manufacturer McCormick and Company in its acquisition of a 26 per cent stake in Keralan curry ingredient maker Eastern Condiments for $35m (Rs 162 crores), which was advised by Bangalore firm MD&T Partners with Economic Laws Practice (ELP) Mumbai representing the main selling shareholder.

According to data provider mergermarket's latest league table, AZB & Partners was the busiest M&A law firm with 38 deals to its credit in the first half of 2010, followed by Amarchand Mangaldas and Desai & Diwanji in second and third places respectively, with a total of 14 deals each.

AZB & Partners advised close client Tata Power in raising $300m by selling up to 15 per cent in two of its Indonesian coal-assets-owning special purpose vehicles (SPVs) Bhira Investments and Bhivpuri Investments to private equity house Olympus Capital Holdings Asia, which Desai & Diwanji and US firms Milbank Tweed and Purrington Moody Weil advised.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) and Naik Paranjpe & Co have respectively represented Bollywood film studios PVR Pictures and Reliance Big Entertainment in filing a writ petition to challenge the imposition of service tax on copyright transfers, which was introduced by the Finance Act 2010 on 1 July 2010.

Bharucha & Partners with Norton Rose and Talwar Thakore & Associates (TTA) with best friend Linklaters are advising HSBC on its takeover of the Indian retail and commercial banking business of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for a premium of Rs 444 crore ($95m) over the net asset value of the business.

Amarchand Mangaldas acted on more than half of the total number of Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs) in Legally India's QIP League Table of the 2009-2010 fiscal year. AZB & Partners and Khaitan & Co were the second-busiest followed by J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Crawford Bayley and S&R Associates amongst domestic firms.

International firm Jones Day bagged the maximum QIPs out of foreign law firms acting for the book running lead managers while Linklaters, Dorsey & Whitney and Clifford Chance also won mandates on a significant numbers of fundraisings.

IPL (Indian Premier League) broadcasters Sony Entertainment Television yesterday filed a Rs 147 crore recovery suit in the Bombay High Court through Luthra & Luthra against the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and its media rights licensee World Sports Group (WSG).

Naik Paranjpe & Co has successfully restrained the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) from preventing the release of the film Raavan in Karnataka after it won a rare favourable interim order from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for clients Reliance Big Entertainment yesterday evening.

AZB & Partners was the busiest Indian M&A firm in the months of April and May advising on a total of seven takeovers, followed by Trilegal and Amarchand Mangaldas but foreign firms picked up by far the greatest slice of Indian M&A mega-value deals benefiting from increasing Indian outbound activity.

Amarchand Mangaldas Bangalore advised Kalanithi Maran on his Rs 740 crore purchase of Link Legal-advised low-cost carrier SpiceJet from two sellers, which were represented by AZB Mumbai and Naveen Goel Law Offices in Delhi.

Amarchand Mangaldas was the busiest IPO law firm in Legally India's 2009-10 financial year (FY) league table by far but the newer practices Luthra & Luthra, S&R Associates, AZB & Partners and Khaitan & Co have managed to keep pace in bank advisory work bagging nearly as many instructions.