Law firms

Kochhar & Co and AZB & Partners have advised venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Headland Capital respectively on their Rs 70 crore equity investment in mobile value added services (VAS) provider ValueFirst Messaging.

AZB & Partners and Amarchand Mangaldas have advised on GVK Airport Holdings’ 13.5 per cent stake acquisition of Bid Services’ shares in Mumbai International Airport to become the largest shareholder in the consortium of airport operators.

Khaitan & Co’s Mumbai office celebrated International Women’s Day today with ceremonial cake cuttings, festive decorations, readings and an internal women-only email list, also allowing all female staff to leave the office at 330pm today.

The writ petition against 31 foreign law firms in Chennai has been adjourned to 19 April following the Bar Council of India (BCI) having failed to hold a meeting to discuss the legal position of foreign lawyers.

CPA Global CFO and head of management services Anand Sharma has vowed that the legal process outsourcing (LPO) company would look for inorganic vertical acquisitions of smaller pure-play LPO companies in 2011.

Luthra & Luthra has advised Kohlapar-based Ratnakar Bank in raising Rs 720 crore ($160m) of equity funding from institutional investors and a private equity (PE) consortium including US-based Cartica Capital, which drafted in Khaitan & Co.

Dr Vidya Sagar, the senior partner and founder of one of India’s largest intellectual property (IP) firms Remfry and Sagar, passed away on 27 February at the age of 85 leaving behind a legacy unparalled in the field of IP laws.

Exclusive: Law firms’ litigation associates could find themselves liable to have to charge service tax to their law firms and account for it to the Revenue under the Budget’s new service tax rules that apply to individuals representing businesses in courts or tribunals.

India Law Services (ILS) has acted as lenders' legal counsel on three external commercial borrowings (ECB) and loan structurings of Reliance Power worth around $50m of for the second phase development of its Uttar Pradesh-based 1,200 MW Rosa Power project.

ILS advised Axis Bank, Allahabad Bank and Syndicate Bank on the execution of three different loan agreements as well as conversion of existing Rupee term loans into foreign currency loans to enable Rosa Power Supply to reach full-capacity power generation.

ILS Mumbai-based partner Tushar Desai led the transaction for the lender consortium while the borrower Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-owned Reliance Power acted through its in-house legal team.

Desai told Legally India: “The Axis Bank Ltd and Allahabad Bank granted such foreign currency loans through their respective Hong Kong branches, Syndicate Bank did so from its London branch.

“While the first transaction of Axis Bank Ltd.,(for $20m), was signed in October 2010, the other two were with Allahabad Bank ($15m) and Syndicate Bank ($15m) were signed in January 2011. In this case individual facility agreements were executed with each of the ECB lenders and other finance documents were executed for inclusion of the ECB Lenders as part of the consortium.”

According to the Economic Times the Rosa plant recently hit 105 per cent of its power generation capacity last month.

Kochhar & Co has won state-owned gas and transmission company GAIL’s contract for rendering of legal services over other co-bidders and qualifiers of technical round such as Amarchand Mangaldas, Trilegal, Singhania & Partners, Fox Mandal and APJ – SLG, said the firm.

Exclusive: Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) chairman Lalit Bhasin has condemned the expanded service tax rules on law firms, saying that SILF and other law firms would file a new writ petition against the changes while the existing writ petition remained pending in the Bombay High Court.

Delhi firm LexCounsel has advised longstanding clients venture capital (VC) fund LeapStart Trust on its third portfolio investment with a a 26 per cent stake in English e-learning group Liqvid eLearning after a prior focus on technology and hospitality sectors.

Juris Corp and Tatva Legal have advised on private equity fund BanayanTree Growth Capital’s minority stake investment in oil, gas and power services company Dee Development Engineers.

Paras Kuhad & Associates (PKA) Delhi disputes partner Ravi Prakash has joined DSK Legal with a team of 14 lawyers, almost doubling the size of DSK’s Delhi outpost.

UK firm Penningtons has kick-started its India practice with the hire of former Platinum Partners associate Saionton Basu and UK South-East firm EMW-Picton Howell former merger partner Teja Picton-Howell.

Phoenix Legal and Hogan Lovells’ Japanese office have advised advised Japan’s Sojitz Corporation on its joint venture with South Indian business conglomerate Archean Group top operate a marine chemicals plant in India.