JSA, Trilegal help Aircel raise 3G funds through $449m commercial papers

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 By Kian Ganz Finance

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Trilegal have completed mobile phone operator Aircel’s Rs 2,000 crore ($449m) commercial paper fundraising to part-finance the telecom operator’s upcoming 3G licence auction.

JSA Delhi partners Divyanshu Pandey and Sidharrth Shankar advised Aircel on the loan, assisted by associate Parmeet Walia.

JSA’s Shankar said that the firm had worked with Aircel on various technology financings in the past.

Trilegal Mumbai partner Srinivas Partha, who joined the firm from best friend Allen & Overy last August, advised the arrangers Deutsche Bank and placement agent Axis Bank together with a team of Trilegal associates.

It is understood that Aircel’s commercial papers have been allotted and all investors have agreed to subscribe, although they have not yet been issued.

Commercial papers are rated and tradable loan instruments with a maximum duration of one year, which can have the advantage of several regulatory and cost benefits compared to other longer-term loans.

Shankar commented: “Commercial paper will be cheaper than bank loans once the base rate system comes into effect. The introduction of the so-called base rate according to which no bank can lend below the base rate from July should give a leg-up to the commercial paper market in India as corporations will prefer them to bank loans for short-term funding needs.

“The guidelines on base rate have been issued by RBI [the Reserve Bank of India] and will become effective from July 1, 2010.”

Photo by Gonzalo Baeza Hernández

Comments

Anonymous guest 20 Apr 2010, 23:48

+1 -0

I fail to understand as to how come Trilegal is ranked so high in various law firms rankings when it doesn’t appear on top, or even closer to that, in either the M&A league table or the IPO list

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 00:25

I absoulutely agree with # 1. The firm makes its money on doing small M&A deals but in huge volumes [...]

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 01:03

Because, for overall ranking all practice areas are taken into account. While Trilegal may not be a strong player in the capital markets field, it has a steller reputation in projects, banking and finance and general corporate fields. Also, trilegal advised on two of the biggest M&A deals of past two years.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 05:04

Dude, you really don't like Trilegal, do you. I mean posting the exact same comment, again. Were you rejected in an interview or something. Btw, i am thinking you'd be really happy reading this comment- I mean finally someone responded to your comment- i knew it, ccp always works.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 15:42

No2: are you mixing Wadia Gandy with Trilegal!?!? By waht account is Telenor, Vodafone small M&A deals!

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 16:51

Trilegal has been around for about 10 years in which the only major M&A deals they have revceived instructions on are Telenor and Vodafone. Vodafone is a mess, [...]. but this is not surprising as even A&O is known more for their banking and finance and not their M&A. Infact A&O is not even part of the CORPORATE MAGIC CIRCLE in the UK although they form part of the 5 magic cirlce firms.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 17:39

Hey, where did you find the corporate magic circle info. I found stuff about magic circle on wiki..couldn't really find anything on " CORPORATE MAGIC CIRCLE" is it your own creation?

#6. You have hit the nail on the head. This is not only about trilegal but tons of other Indian firms too. Most people dont bother to find out what a firms core competence is. A&O is known more for its banking and finance unlike slaughter, freshfields and linklaters. No wonder trilrgal is not big on M&A since most of their work comes from A&O.

#4 & #5: Its not really about liking or not liking a firm. Its about facts. I felt funny reading you guys quoting Telenor etc because there are firms only 1-3 yrs old who have done much bigger M&A transactions [...]

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 17:42

I completely disagree with comment # 6. Trilegal has a solid business model, and for a newish firm have done tremendously well. [...] Trilegal is undoubtedly the most westernized in their approach. They have a good corporate and M&A practice. However, they have always played to their strengths which is project and banking & finance – nothing wrong in that.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 17:56

[...] i thought that till Zain came about just now Telenor and Vodafone were the biggest M&A deals ever. Would be happy to be corrected if i'm off the mark.
I agree with # 9 Trilegal is a good firm with one of the most transparent and democratic set ups i have seen without compromising on quality. I thought their acting on the Nomura-Lehman acquisitoin was commendable as well.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 19:05

I don’t know about the M&A and capital markets rankings, or the methodology used in those rankings, but for overall ranking the quality of the junior most associate should be taken into account…the quality of junior and mid level associates at Trilegal is really good, and there are quite a few upcoming lawyers in their ranks. Further, most of the partners at Trilegal are also very hands-on unlike the prima donnas in some Indian ‘Magic Circle’ or ‘Corporate Magic Circle’. That should explain their high overall ranking.

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 19:59

Lets not condemn the new performer setting new standards with each year. Trilegal is coming up well as a full service law firm. Even if it is correct that Trilegal is not the superperformer on the capital markets side, they have had an incredible year and their revenues have apparently shot the roof. It would appear that on an average most associates have been paid 150% of the performance linked bonus amounts (with the top performers getting nearly 200% of the perfomance bonus caps). So not doing too bad, yeah? magic circle or no magic circle...

kianganz 21 Apr 2010, 20:18

Hi - we will be moderating the Trilegal part of this comment thread more strictly as there appear to be mostly unsubstantiated to-and-fro and allegations between two readers here, which is not terribly productive.

Best,
Kian

Anonymous guest 21 Apr 2010, 20:34

about time, Kian...

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