Amarchand Mangaldas

NLIU Bhopal started its Day Zero recruitment efforts today to low turnout, around four months after other top law schools.

Former Mayer Brown JSM Asia COO Jennifer Milford joined AMSS today.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is examining the terms of the agreement between Ambuja Cements and Holcim.

Amarchand Mangaldas solidified its lead in the Indian project finance league tables ahead of Luthra & Luthra, as AZB & Partners pushed its way into the top three.

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired Tatva Legal Hyderabad partner Rahul Sarella in the city, replacing Anshuman Jaiswal who is moving to Mumbai.

AZB & Partners dropped off data provider Merger Market’s half-yearly (H1) M&A league table despite reporting 21 deals – the highest among India’s top ten law firms.

Amarchand is the fourth major Indian law firm to have made it (mostly) mandatory for fresher recruits to rotate between different departments for the first eighteen months. J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Khaitan & Co also swear by it; Trilegal was less enamoured. Is it the new standard or just a fad?

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired Citibank former South Asia general counsel Sandip Beri as a partner in Delhi.

Amarchand Mangaldas has made 13 new partners this year, with seven in Delhi and five in Mumbai.

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) and Amarchand Mangaldas swap corporate lawyers into partnership.

Amarchand Mangaldas advised Videocon Hydrocarbon Holdings (VHHL) on the Indian leg of the $2.475bn (Rs 14,827 crore) sale of its 10 per cent stake in a Mozambique gas field in Brazil.

IndusLaw advised the founders of Redbus and its early investors Helion, Inventus and Seed Fund, in selling out the online bus-ticketing service for $100m (Rs 597 crore) to the Ibibo Group, which is a joint venture of South African Media giant Naspers and Chinese internet company Tencent.

Amarchand Mumbai partners Vandana Shroff and Ajay Joseph acted for the Ibibo Group, which owns online travel aggregators Goibibo and TravelBoutiqueOnline.

IndusLaw Bangalore partner Suneeth Katarki with associates Basava Rao, Rashi Saraf, and Sherill Pal acted for the Bangalore-based Pilani Softlabs’ founders Phanindra Sama and Charan Padmaraju and the other investors in the buy-out of the seven-year old company.

In 2012 RedBus earned Rs 350 crore selling tickets over Rs 600 crore on more than 10,000 bus routes, according to Mint.

Amarchand Mangaldas advised State Bank of India (SBI), SBI Trustee and SBI AMC in buying Japan’s second-largest brokerage group Daiwa Security Group’s Daiwa Mutual Fund. Daiwa was advised by AZB & Partners. SBI will buy the Japanese fund for more than Rs 1.3 crore ($220,000), reports Mint.

Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai corporate partners Ashwath Rau and Aysswarya Murthi acted for the buyers, which will acquire Daiwa’s sponsorship, trusteeship and management.AZB & Partners Mumbai partner Alka Nalavadi and associate Rushabh Maniar acted for Daiwa Asset Management Company’s Indian and Japanese arms and Daiwa Trustee Company.

Daiwai Mutual Fund is selling out to SBI because it wants to cut costs and jobs outside Japan, and because India poses regulatory uncertainties, waning retail investor interest in equity markets, wafer-thin margins and a highly competitive environment, reported the Times of India.

Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi principal associate Kirat Singh Nagra will replace former Economic Laws Practice (ELP) litigation head and partner Tarun Gulati.

Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai principal associate Satyam Sharat will join Ashurst’s Jakarta office as a foreign legal consultant in a month.

He specialises in banking, having joined Amarchand in 2006 from JurisCorp after graduating from NLIU Bhopal in 2005.

Ashurst India head Richard Gubbins said: “We were looking for a common-law trained associate to assist in dealing with our foreign clients in Indonesia. The fact that Satyam is an Indian national from an Indian law firm is a bonus since Indian investors are quite active in Indonesia. 

“The work that our Jakarta Office  has done for Indian clients includes work for Essar, [TVS Motor Company], airport developers [such as GVK] and mine investors. Satyam will be a great asset for us to attract additional work from India because he comes to us with excellent credentials.”

Amarchand Mangaldas Mumbai corporate partners Amita Choudhary and Aysswarya Murthy are set to leave the firm.

Amarchand Delhi, Jones Day Cleveland and Sullivan Cromwell London acted on Gurgaon’s Apollo Tyres $2.5bn takeover of Ohio-based Cooper.