Deals Feed

Platinum Partners has joined the team of legal advisers on the MTN – Bharti Airtel merger talks alongside four other firms on what could be India's largest cross-border deal to date with a value of around $23bn (Rs 110,000 crore).

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lex Counsel and Platinum Partners have advised on a $17.5m (Rs 85 crore) joint venture (JV) deal between the UK's Pearson Group and Delhi-based education company Educomp Solutions.

Amarchand and US firm Shearman & Sterling jointly advised the Californian venture capital fund Norwest Venture Partners in buying Rs250 crore ($51m) in the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) under new foreign investment rules.

Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe has led Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) in its multi-million dollar High Court victory against Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL).

J Sagar and Associates (JSA) and Luthra & Luthra have completed the Rs 1,750 crore ($368m) takeover of mining company Dempo Group by London-listed Vedanta Resources subsidiary Sesa Goa.

Amarchand, Ashurst and Luthra & Luthra have restarted their work on the exhumed Oil India initial public offering (IPO), which the government hopes will fill its coffers by up to Rs 2,400 crore ($500m).

Vaish Associates Mumbai office is hammering out a health insurance JV between its close client Religare Enterprises and global insurance company Swiss Re.

The Vaish team is being led by partner Bomi Daruwala, assisted by associates Amitjivan Joshi and Arti Narsana.

Swiss Re is understood to be represented by its global in-house team but is due to pick its domestic Indian legal representation soon.

Luthra & Luthra advised a consortium of banks on their Rs 14,550 crore ($3.1bn) project financing of the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project for Reliance Power.

Reliance handled the transaction entirely with its in-house legal team of seven, led by its head of legal Umesh Mooteri.

Luthra & Luthra Delhi project finance head Sameen Vyas and Mumbai banking head Vijaya Rao (pictured) co-led the team for State Bank of India and a consortium of 11 other lenders.

Amarchand is battling on in Punjab & Haryana for telecommunications company Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in its attempts to sue state-owned telecoms operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) over a Rs 30,000 crore ($6bn) contract.

Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co litigation partner Ritu Bhalla is leading the NSN team, which has today filed another petition against BSNL with the Chandigarh High Court in Punjab & Haryana.

AZB & Partners has bagged the biggest ever Indian cross-border merger mandate, advising Bharti Airtel on its revived $23bn bid to take over South African telecoms major MTN.

London international Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will be advising long-standing client MTN but the company's Indian counsel has not yet been chosen.

AZB Delhi partners Ajay Bahl (pictured) and Gautam Saha are understood to be leading the legal team for Bharti, having won the instruction off the back of previous work done by the firm for the company.