Law firms

Former DLA Piper Dubai legal director and NLSIU Bangalore 1996 alumnus Diwakar Agarwal has joined Stephenson Harwood as a partner in Dubai.

"Budget hotels chain FabHotels has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Goldman Sachs, a top company executive said. Accel Partners, an existing investor in FabHotels, also participated in the round," reported Mint.

The law and commerce ministries, including law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, met with a number of stakeholders of the Indian legal profession today, paving the way for the first stage of allowing foreign law firms to set up shop in India.

"Axis Bank Ltd on Thursday announced the acquisition of Snapdeal-owned mobile wallet FreeCharge in a Rs385 crore all-cash deal, strengthening its position in the payments space," reported Mint.

"Global private equity (PE) firm Carlyle Group has emerged as the front runner for GE Capital Corp’s stake in SBI Card, the credit card joint venture between the US-based company and India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI). Carlyle has emerged as the front runner for GE Capital’s stake in SBI Cards for somewhere around $325 million. The board of SBI settled upon the final bidder in a meeting. Carlyle has pipped Warburg Pincus and Credit Saison and emerged as the final bidder though the deal is not closed yet,” reported Mint.

"Online pharmacy and healthcare services start-up 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd has raised $15 million in a funding round led by global healthcare-focused fund HBM Healthcare Investments AG, to launch predictive healthcare and corporate wellness products. The series C round also saw participation from existing investors Maverick Capital Ventures, Sequoia India, Omidyar Network and Kae Capital," reported Mint.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) is set to meet the government tomorrow to discuss the new draft rules that will enable the entry of foreign law firms into India, reported The Lawyer (full article requires free registration) adding that the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) has already met with its members as a precursor to what SILF called the “inevitable and imminent” opening up of the legal services sector.

Samvad Partners added advocate-on-record (AOR) and NLSIU Bangalore 2005 alumnus Arjun Krishnan as a partner in Delhi, effectively from August 2017.

Automotive insurtech company Roadzen Inc. has acquired the India operations of assistance services company AXA-Assistance India by acquiring 100% equity stake in AXA Assistance India Private Limited from its sole shareholder Inter Partner Assistance SA in a cross border transaction.

Indian insurance company Global Insurance Services Brokers Private Limited and its promoters Prabodh Thakker and Sunita Thakker have acquired the entire stake of 26% of Aon Holdings BV in their Indian insurance JV broking company, Aon Global Insurance Brokers Private Limited, for an undisclosed amount, as reported by The Economic Times and The Insurance Insider. Post the acquisition, the name of the company has been changed to Global Insurance Brokers Private Limited.

Khaitan & Co Bangalore general corporate and commercial partner Abhilekh Verma is set to leave the firm, after six years with it.

"SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd on Monday filed the draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO), joining several other insurance companies headed for the stock market. In an offer for sale, SBI and BNP Paribas will sell 80 million and 40 million shares respectively, amounting to a combined 12% stake. SBI Life is not raising any primary capital. The IPO could see SBI Life raise more than $1 billion (about Rs6,500 crore), a Bloomberg story quoted bankers as saying," reported Mint.

"KKR, one of the largest PE investors in the world, signed a definitive agreement on Monday to invest $200 million for a 49% stake in Radiant Life Care," reported the Economic Times.

BMR Legal partner Vishal Kalra is set to leave the firm with his team of around 10 lawyers, once again leaving behind founding partner Mukesh Butani as the only partner in the firm.

"Trade financing company Vayana Network, which recently split from parent company Vayana (VPL), has raised $4 Million (about Rs 26 crore) from venture capital firms IDG Ventures India and Jungle Ventures," reported Indian CEO.

BMR Legal's best friend consultancy BMR Advisors will lose its corporate tax practice to Deloitte, and its M&A practice most likely to KPMG, reported Business Standard.