AZB & Partners
AZB & Partners has shot to the top of the mergermarket M&A league table by acting on seven out of eight of the largest M&A deals in the first three months of 2010. Desai & Diwanji and Amarchand Mangaldas respectively came in at second and third place by number of deals done.
AZB & Partners has been instructed on Bharti Airtel's $10.7bn bid for the African business of Kuwaiti telecoms group Zain, with Herbert Smith and Linklaters scoring the international advisory mandates for the Indian company's third attempt to enter the continent.
The book-running lead managers are Kotak Mahindra, Enam Securities, JP Morgan India and Morgan Stanley India.
Amarchand, Luthra & Luthra and Khaitan & Co were leading in Legally India's Q3 2009-10 IPO rankings.
Desai & Diwanji acted on 24 M&A deals in the 2009 calendar year, placing it at the top of data provider mergermarket's M&A league table by volume. Amarchand Mangaldas topped the table by value, having advised on M&A deals worth $6.4bn in 2009, while Khaitan & Co and AZB & Partners also gave a strong showing.
Kolkata Amarchand spin-off Argus Partners and AZB & Partners have scooped roles on the $124m private equity placement and open offer by Bain Capital in coal tar manufacturer Himadri Chemicals & Industries.
In November Amarchand Mangaldas' Bangalore office bagged a role in four out of six initial public offerings (IPOs), and together with one instruction from Delhi has extended its lead in the top spot of the IPO league tables over Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra and AZB & Partners.
AZB & Partners senior associate Sunil Jain has joined J Sagar Associates (JSA) Delhi office as a partner to head and start up its direct tax practice.
Amarchand Mangaldas and AZB & Partners capital markets teams have sewn up Tata Steel's $493m (Rs 2,550 crore) convertible bond swap, marking the third joint instruction for the firms on similar deals in the past half-year.
The Ambanis yet again dominated the national headlines as the multi-billion dollar dispute between brothers Anil and Mukesh began limping through the Supreme Court.
Then, as though there was not nearly enough drama in the saga, one of the three judges discovered that his daughter was a partner at AZB Bangalore.
Practising lawyers have largely expressed support for AZB & Partners and Justice R.V. Raveendran's shock recusal in the Ambani brothers' dispute, although several have questioned the timing and causes of the decision.
A Supreme Court judge on the Ambani brothers' gas supply dispute has stepped down, fearing a conflict of interest because of his daughter recently joining AZB & Partners in Bangalore as a partner.
Luthra & Luthra, AZB & Partners and S&R Associates have pushed up the IPO league tables this October, as J Sagar Associates (JSA) and capital markets specialist firm JurisPrudent Consulting Partners make their entry into the rankings.
Hemant Sahai Associates has recruited an AZB senior associate as a partner in Mumbai, after recently merging with Paras Kuhad & Associates to create a national firm called PHA Advocates.
Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham has always exhibited infectious enthusiasm for India. Legally India talks to him about the perennial joke of liberalisation, offshoring, India's legal future and nine months of best friendship with AZB & Partners.
The Indian festival season is now in full swing and almost everyone seems to be celebrating already. We will therefore keep this one brief and joyous.Clifford Chance and AZB have entered a new stage in their friendship as CC has opened up its training academy for a potentially limitless number of AZB associates. Expect queuing.
Legally India research has revealed Amarchand Mangaldas as the top IPO dealmaker of this financial year so far, while Khaitan & Co and Luthra & Luthra are in close contest for the runner-up spot. International and domestic firms are competing in a tightly bunched mid-field of the ranking.
AZB & Partners is sending four associates for training at Clifford Chance's European training centres as the start of a more organised "knowledge transfer" programme between the best friend firms.
For the first time this year, Desai & Diwanji and Khaitan & Co are leading the third quarter Indian M&A rankings both by value and volume of deals, pushing Amarchand Mangaldas two places down mergermarket's value league table compared to three months ago.