Law firms

Luthra & Luthra has hired two new Mumbai partners: ex-State Bank of India deputy general manager (law) Priyamvada Haridas in banking and finance, and Shinoj Koshy from Nishith Desai Associates in corporate, as reported by Bar & Bench.

Haridas joined SBI from GLC Calicut after graduating in 1986; Koshy is a 2004 NLSIU Bangalore graduate who spent time at Linklaters joining Nishith Desai in 2013.

Partners Rajiv Luthra and Mohit Saraf did not respond to Legally India emails seeking comment.

IndusLaw advised India’s largest taxi aggregator Ola Cabs, backed by Japan’s Softbank Corp, in raising $314m (Rs 1,952 crore) from Russian Yuri Milner’s DST Global which was advised by AZB & Partners and Goodwin Procter.

Indus Delhi partner Gaurav Dani, senior associate Divya Varghese and associate Nitin Gera acted for Ola. AZB Mumbai partner Darshika Kothari and Goodwin partner Yash Rana acted for DST

Gunderson Dettemer partner Steven L Baglio and lawyer Melissa B Marks acted for new investor Internet Fund. Morrison Foerster of counsel James T McCormick and associate Noah Carr acted for SoftBank Internet and Media (SIMI).

In November 2014, Olacabs had raised $210m from SIMI and its existing investors including Tiger Global, Matrix Partners India and Steadview Capital.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) advised alternate asset management firm Tano Capital on investing Rs 60 crore in India’s second NBFC microfinance institution Arohan which was advised by A&M Law Offices.

ELP partner Suhail Naithani, associate partner Vinayak Burman, senior associate Archana Khosla and associate Amoolya Narayan acted for Tano. A&M partner Viral Mehta and associate P Goel acted for Arohan.

Investors and stakeholders are increasingly becoming enthusiastic about microfinance institutions, reported the Business Standard.

Link Legal partners Ajay Sawhney and Gautham Srinivas and their team of associates will be joining Krishnamurthy and Co with their team, according to three authoritative sources.

IndusLaw promoted Bangalore dispute resolution principal associate Lomesh Kiran Nidumuri to partnership, taking its partner count to 12 across all offices.

Getting the ratio of partners to non-partner fee-earners right has its rewards, but it is, at best, an inexact science.

Induslaw advised internet and mobile-based classifieds company Quikr Mauritius Holding in raising $150m (over Rs 900 crore) from existing investors Tiger Global, eBay and Sweden’s Kinnevik, and new investor Steadview Capital Management, LTR and ABG Capital, which were advised by Morgan Lewis and Gunderson Dettmer.

Indus partner Gaurav Dani, senior associate Dviya Varghese and associate Nikita Goyal acted for Quickr.

Morgan Lewis Boston partner William Perkins and associate Cindy C Kung advised eBay. Gunderson Beijing partner Christopher D Terry and lawyer Mao Chen acted for Tiger Global affiliate IFPL

The venture competes with Naspers-backed OLX in the P2P classifieds business in India, reported VCCircle.

In what will possibly have been its last quarter of existing as a single firm, Amarchand Mangaldas again acted on the most valuable M&A deals though AZB & Partners emerged as the firm with the largest number of recorded transactions.

Rishi Anand, who started his own firm Gnarus Partners in 2012 after leaving Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi as a senior associate, will join the new Delhi office of Amarchand Mangaldas co-managing partner Cyril Shroff, who is set to compete with his brother Shardul Shroff in India’s capital, according to an authoritative source.

Nishith Desai Associates advised Caspian Impact Investments (CII) on its $20m debt financing from the US government’s development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which was advised by Trilegal.

NDA Mumbai partner Nishchal Joshipura and associates Sahil Shah and Nikhil Joseph, with Caspian director Shilpa Sudhakar and in house lawyer Mayank Mishra acted for Caspian.

Trilegal Mumbai partner Ameya Khandge and Sidhharth Saxena acted for OPIC The two-year-old CII supports small business lending, microfinance, food & agriculture and affordable housing business in India, according to Business Insider.

NLU Jodhpur bagged approximately 31 jobs for its fourth year class in Day Zero yesterday, including 13 pre-placement offers (PPOs), for 88 students.

Khaitan & Co associate partner Deepto Roy will join the firm to be started by Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi partner Shardul Shroff in Mumbai.

Khaitan & Co associate partners Iqbal Khan in Mumbai and Harsh Kumar in Delhi have been poached by Amarchand Mangaldas co-managing partners Shardul and Cyril Shroff respectively, who are setting up offices in each others’ territories.