IndusLaw

Legally India’s round-up of the latest 15 cases and deals and their legal advisers, including Luthra’s defence of Yahoo! India in two high-profile cases, and a massive boom in debt capital markets – but only one equity cap markets deal for AZB.

Best of deals, including three exclusive venture capital/private equity deals featuring DSK, Sand Hill, Induslaw, Khaitan and Nishith Desai, as well as a banking, M&A and projects wrap.

Induslaw clients Helion Venture Partners, Canaan Partners and Sequoia Capital have bought an 18.1 per cent stake in legal process outsourcing (LPO) company UnitedLex for $16m (Rs 73 crore) by acquiring co-founder Ajay Agrawal’s share, who had drafted in Amarchand Mangaldas.

Starting out as Indus in Bangalore and G&D in Delhi and now with four offices, Induslaw as it stands today has come of age with a strictly democratic partnership that has its eye on creating a truly national firm, if it can find the right fit.

IndusLaw has advised Bangalore-based IT consulting company ASM Technologies on its complete buy-out of US company Abacus Business Solutions which had drafted in Californian firm Pacific Law Group in an all-cash purchase.

AZB & Partners was the busiest private equity legal advisor of 2010 ahead of ALMT Legal and Indus Law tied in second place followed by DSK Legal and Tatva Legal. Amarchand Mangaldas and Trilegal came in fourth and fifth places respectively, according to a volume-based league table by data provider Venture Intelligence.

Exclusive: PXV Law Partners and Indus Law Advocates have advised on Rs 15 crore venture capital investment in a start up Glocal Hospital by private equity firms Sequoia Capital and Elevar Equity to develop health care facilities in rural West Bengal.

AZB & Partners, Indus Law, ALMT Legal and Trilegal have topped data provider Venture Intelligence’s private equity league tables for the first nine months of this year.

Amarchand Mangaldas Bangalore and Indus Law Advocates advised on private equity funds Sandstone Capital and Sequoia Capital’s Rs 200 crore minority stake investment in India’s largest domestic handset maker Micromax.

Trilegal is awaiting a response from the Bar Council of India (BCI) on whether the firm is allowed to convert to a limited liability partnership (LLP) under the Advocates Act, as start-up Vidhii Partners vowed to convert to LLP in two months and Luthra & Luthra, Nishith Desai Associates, IndusLaw and at least eight other firms have reserved respective LLP names.

Induslaw has hired Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) partner, Bangalore head and fund investment co-head Kartik Ganapathy as an equity partner, while NDA partner Vaibhav Parikh returned from the firm's Silicon Valley office.

Induslaw and Amarchand Mangaldas represented three funds that investing $10m into Azure Power's solar power technology project.

Induslaw has acted as sole advisor to education provider Educomp Solutions, which acquired Studyplaces.com from Zaptive Internet Services.

Induslaw has created a new career step of principal associate as a one-to-two-year training ground before partnership and has promoted one if its senior associates into the new role.

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"If you feel if you are not able to achieve what you want in larger firms with larger brand names, there is enough work to sustain and flourish when you set up on your own," claims Lex Counsel's co-founder Dimpy Mohanty.