Law firms

Khaitan & Co Delhi has advised cinema giant and long-standing client Inox on its Rs 182 crore complete acquisition of Satyam Cineplexes, which drafted in Luthra & Luthra.

Khaitan & Co and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto advised Tokyo-based SBS Holdings in buying a 66 per cent stake in Transpole Logistics, which was advised by Trilegal.

Khaitan Delhi partner Rajat Mukherjee, associate partner Harsh Kumar, executive director Daksha Baxi and competition partner Manas Kumar Chaudhuri, together with Mori Hamada of counsel Yohei Koyama acted for SBS. The acquisition is costing SBS Rs 446 crore ($73.5m), according to Dealcurry.

Trilegal Mumbai partner Amit Tambe with senior associate Anjali Menon and associate Kevin Peter acted for Transpole and the existing investors – Everstone and Fidelity.

Ran Chakrabarti, the co-founder of William Chakrabarti & Associates, has joined IndusLaw as a partner in Delhi from 1 August.

UK educated, he began his career in London and Singapore at Ashurst and White & Case and moved to India in 2007 to join Amarchand Mangaldas, moving to legal process outsourcer (LPO) CPA Global in 2010 in the outsourced legal team for Rio Tinto as lead lawyer.

In a press release Indus co-founder Gaurav Dani said that Chakrabarti would add to the firm’s capacity in international debt transactions, infrastructure and project finance.

Chakrabarti commented in the press release: “I’ve known the team at IndusLaw for some time now. It’s great to be joining a vibrant and ambitiouspractice and grow existing synergies.”

Chakrabarti could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.

SNG & Partners partner S Babu has joined Economic Laws Practice (ELP) in Mumbai.

Clyde & Co Dubai aviation partner Sidanth Rajagopal joined the London office of Kaye Scholer with the same designation, reported Bar & Bench.

The ILS Pune alumnus, who had also briefly worked at Clyde’s Indian best friend firm Clasis Law, told B&B: “This was a fantastic opportunity to be part of a top rated Aviation Finance & Leasing Practice that is expanding its global reach.”

We have reached out to Clydes for comment.

Nishith Desai Associates has launched a mobile app for Android, Apple and Blackberry devices in a bid at “knowledge democratisation”.

Legal Matrix, a Hyderabad-based start-up law firm set up in 2011 by Aruna Kumari after leaving Fox Mandal Little, as it was then called, has merged into Kochhar & Co’s Hyderabad office with five lawyers.

Verus Advocates Mumbai partner Jay Parikh, assisted by associates Aastha Khurana, Rashna Jehani and Priyanka Devgan, acted for Hyderabad-based Sagar Cements which sold 47 per cent of its Vicat Sagar Cement to an affiliate of its French joint-venture partner Vicat Group for Rs 435 crore. MNK Law Delhi partner Probal Bhaduri and associate Kamalika Bhattacharjee acted for Vicat.