J Sagar Associates (JSA) has hired Mayer Brown International London-based senior associate Pallavi Bedi as a retained partner for its Gurgaon project finance practice.

17 deals and cases in brief this week, spanning M&A, a raft of financings, private equity, debt and equity capital markets and litigation.

The JSA story: From 68% to 13.5%. How Jyoti Sagar with Berjis Desai created an institution that will survive its founding partners. JSA’s second partner band owns only 0.75 per cent less equity than founding partners. Also, JSA is perhaps the only Indian law firm giving the “geographical split” syst...

Deals with Dua Associates, AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co, Vichar Partners, Majmudar & Co, J Sagar Associates (JSA) and more…

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Gurgaon-based cloud telephony solutions provider Knowlarity Communications on a Rs 34 crore ($6.6m) investment it received from California-based Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital, which was advised by Luthra & Luthra.

“)Mint exclusive: India’s corporate law firms advised on fewer and smaller mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the 2011 calendar year than in 2010, which affected revenues but still kept firms such as AZB & Partners, Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Desai & Diwanji busy with a lion’s share of work.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) continued its relationship with private equity major Blackstone in the Rs 800 crore ($156m) purchase of DLF Ackruti Infopark in Pune, which drafted in Amarchand Mangaldas.

The latest and greatest deals and cases not yet covered, rounded up for you in one convenient bite-size package.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Simbhaoli Sugars on its Rs 330 crore ($63.8m) joint venture with Singapore-based sustainable resources company Sindicatum, which was advised by Axon Partners LLP for the first time.

Indian law firms are setting up distressed assets, bad loans and restructuring departments to deal with an expected increase in such work in an expected economic downturn, reported Mint today.

Read Legally India’s December and late November deals round-up to find out what friends and colleagues have been up to.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has hired Herbert Smith senior associate Promod Nair as a salaried partner in Bangalore, specialising in international arbitration.

Amarchand goes down under for $1.3bn GVK coal mine buy with Minters, Cliffords; Ex-AZBer’s Vishnu gets busy with Credit Suisse; Vaish hits the capital markets; JSA, KhaiCo, Amarchand disinvest in NYSE-Co; Amarchand restructures Alstom; and Naik gets a John Doe order.

Amarchand on Fortis mammoth internal restructuring, and Alfa Laval delisting; Desai & Diwanji and Seth Dua on two related private equity injections; Khaitan & Co gets close to Raiffeisen; JSA helps Naukri owner expand online reach to Zomato and beyond; MDP gets Cox & Kings out of Maharaja Express pickle for now; JSA and MD&T Partners get Indians to make hoses with Spaniards.

Exclusive: Vishnu Jerome, who resigned from AZB & Partners in June, has started up the law firm Alliance Legal with fellow NLSIU Bangalore graduates Priyanka Roy and Ravi Kumar from J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Talwar Thakore Associates (TTA) respectively.

Khaitan-Trilegal inject $78m into Caparo Energy; JSA, Amarchand, S&R on LVMH luxury Genesis investment; Khaitan double teams with Clifford Chance on StanChart loan, AZB’s $1.4bn steel loan, plus sports, projects and Kolkata litigation.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and US firm Covington & Burling advised Disney, which is seeking to buy-out its Indian partners in the UTV joint venture for $454m, with AZB & Partners advising UTV’s promoters.

Khaitan & Co, J Sagar Associates (JSA) and White & Case have advised exchange and trading technology provider Financial Technologies on its $200m debt funding by Deutsche Bank AG.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Hogan Lovells have advised software research and development (R&D) services leader GlobalLogic on its acquisition of product and content engineering company Rofous Software.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Rajani Associates have advised on glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain’s acquisition of Sezal Glass’s float glass unit in a slump sale for a reported sum of Rs 686 crore.