Law firms

Desai Diwanji, Freshfields, Linklaters, TTA sold German machining company to India auto maker

Amarchand Mangaldas and Latham & Watkins advised London-listed mining giant Vedanta on largest ever bond offering by an Indian corporate.

Finsec Law Advisors has hired Anil Choudhary from Trilegal as a senior associate to shore up its securities transactional practice.

Choudhary graduated from Harvard Law School’s LLM programme in 2010, joined Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) in January 2011 and was at Trilegal between July 2012 and May 2013. He had worked at Luthra & Luthra in Delhi after graduating from Nalsar Hyderabad in 2006. Choudhary is dual-qualified in New York and India. Trilegal was not reachable for comment at the time of going to press.

Finsec founder Sandeep Parekh said in a statement that Choudhary would substantially strengthen the firm’s financial sector transactional practice. In May, one Finsec partner and senior associate had joined IC Legal as partners.

Rachit Bahl, Nandita Govind and Ritika Rathi make salaried partner Delhi; Nilanjana Singh, Nandish Vyas confirmed in Mumbai.

 Khaitan & Co and Davis & Gilbert advised Japanese media giant Dentsu and its Indian subsidiary in picking up 80 per cent stake in Indian digital agency Webchutney. Webchutney was advised by SA Partners.

Trilegal advised British multinational bank Standard Chartered in buying out US investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Indian private wealth management unit. Morgan Stanley was advised by Amarchand Mangaldas.

Three firms offload 81 million shares of real estate giant through the still novel institutional placement programme (IPP).

Baring Private Equity Asia is set to take a minority stake in cement maker Lafarge India for $265m (Rs 1400 crore), with three domestic firms and two foreign law firms advising on the deal.

Lafarge was represented domestically by AZB & Partners on law and BMR & Associates on tax issues, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advising on non-Indian laws. AZB fielded Mumbai partner Essaji Vahanvati, BMR led with partner Kalpesh Desai. Clearys’ team consisted of Paris partner Pierre-Yves Chabert and associate Charles Masson.

Baring drafted in Wadia Ghandy Bangalore partner Ankit Majmudar and Allen & Overy (A&O) Paris partner Frederic Jungels.

Baring will subscribe to 200 million Euros of shares in a Lafarge subsidiary, giving the private equity house a 14 per cent stake, according to a press release from Cleary. The deal is slated as the largest in the private equity space in India so far this year, according to the WSJ.

Four promoted internally as ex-FF consultant Priya Christian joined as a retained competition partner.

Khaitan Sud & Partners has hired ex-Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company in-house lawyer Ashutosh Singh as insurance partner and promoted principal associate Deepak Khurana to partnership in litigation, according to legal website Bar & Bench.

Khurana is a 2006 graduate from Delhi University, while Singh worked at Bajaj Allianz for five years specialising in motor claims and consumer litigation.

Kochhar nabs Neeraj Grover, Nishant Menon, Niti Paul and Nilesh Parekh.

Amarchand Mangaldas, Desai & Diwanji, Luthra & Luthra and Linklaters are advising Fortis Healthcare on its institutional placement programme (IPP) that could raise up to $58m (Rs 320 crore).

Amarchand capital markets partner Yash Ashar in Mumbai acted for Fortis, while Luthra & Luthra Delhi-based capital markets partner Madhurima Mukherjee advised the lead managers Standard Chartered, JP Morgan and Religare.

Linklaters Singapore also advised the lead managers.

Desai & Diwanji partners Vishwang Desai and Srishti Ojha and associate Ishita Kashyap advised GIC Special Investments, in relation to the foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

The price under Chapter  VIII-A of SEBI’s ICDR regulations, will be no more than Rs 92 per share for up to around 35 million shares.

Luthra & Luthra litigation partner Ajit Warrier is to join Amarchand Mangaldas’ Delhi office after this month, according to legal website Bar & Bench’s sources but without official confirmation from the firms.

Warrier specialises in corporate litigation, having joined Luthra in 2006 after starting in chambers and independent litigation practice from 1993.

Luthra litigation partner Vijay Sondhi confirmed to Legally India that Warrier would join Amarchand.

Remfry & Sagar has created a pre-partnership career rung, promoting four managing associates into the partner-designate position effective from 1 April 2013.