J Sagar Associates (JSA)

J Sagar Associates (JSA) made up eight equity partners in Delhi Gurgaon, Bombay and Bangalore effective 1 April, according to a press release.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Reliance Infra on its Rs 819 crore ($130m) acquisition of 18 per cent stake in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering which was advised by K Law and Crawford Bayley.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) has opened its seventh office in Ahmedabad on 1 January after hiring Bijal Chhatrapati from Singhi & Co as an equity partner to head up the office.

Senior partner Berjis Desai said in a press release: “For a few years, we had actively considered establishing our offices at Chennai and Ahmedabad these being cities where significant national law firms have not been present. Chennai office commenced operations in April 2014 and we are truly excited to open in Ahmedabad, in a State which has become a beacon for the economic development of the country.”

Chhatrapati focuses on dispute resolution, M&A and corporate commercial work and is a qualified Bombay solicitor, and commented in the release: “I am proud to be a part of a national law firm which is ahead of the fundamental changes that occur in a market. I have always admired JSA’s commitment to building a sharing, merit-based, empowering, and nurturing institution focussed on client servicing.”

JSA has six other offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, with over 340 lawyers and 80 Partners, according to the release.

The only other of the country’s six largest firms - the Big Six - with an office in Ahmedabad is Amarchand Mangaldas.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) acted for Piramal Enterprises which invested Rs 65 crores in the development of a residential-cum-commercial project of around 630,000 square feet on Bangalore’s Sarjapur Road, Bangalore by Krishna E Campus, which was advised by Wadia Ghandy.

JSA Bangalore partners Vivek Chandy, Raj Ramachandran and Malini Raju, with senior associate Asok Chacko Thomas and associate Lalu John Philip assisted Piramal.

Krishna E Campus, which is an affiliate of KMB Estates, was advised by Wadia Ghandy Bangalore partner Ankit Majmudar, who is due to join Platinum Partners early next year.

The deal involved advice on title, investment and due diligence. Chandy commented: “The transaction was quite interesting as the same involved corporate restructuring of KECPL and exit of one of the promoters at the same time as the investment was being made.”

Desai & Diwanji acted for Hyderabad Chemicals and its shareholders in its Rs 450 crore sale of 74 per cent stake to Japanese listed company Nihon Nohyaku which was advised by J Sagar Associates (JSA).

D&D Mumbai partner Vihang Virkar and senior associate Ayesha Rai acted for Hyderabad Chemicals. Virkar said in an email: “The promoters of Hyderabad Chemicals are new clients of the firm and we look forward developing our association with them.”

JSA partner Vikram Ragani with Anand Lakra, Bir Bahadur Singh and Suren Sundaram acted for Nihon Nohyaku, with Japanese law firm Mori Hamada Masumoto.

The Rs 10,000-crore agrochemical industry in India is one of Asia’s largest markets and is expected to attract many more multinational companies for inbound M&A, reported the Economic Times.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and AZB & Partners advised the promoters of Curatio Health Care on the Rs 95 crore sale of 33.36 per cent of its stake to Sequoia, which was advised by Khaitan & Co and Themis Law Associates.

JSA Chennai partner Aarthi Sivanandh, senior associate Tamara Devanandan and associates Revathi Muralidharan, Sahana Raghunathan and Bharath Sridhar and AZB Mumbai partner Essaji Vahanvati and associate Manan Mehta acted for the promoters.

Khaitan Bangalore partner Ganesh Prasad and associates Vineet Shingal and Mukund Thirumalai Srikanth together Themis senior associate Ashwani Verma and Dheeraj Khanna and associate Hardik Bhatia acted for Sequoia.

Sequoia has made 12 healthcare investments in India, including this deal, spread across verticals such as diagnostic services, healthcare IT, patient services, pharmaceuticals, and product development services, reported the Times of India.

Senior counsel Iqbal Chagla told the Bombay high court in his closing remarks that his client Cyril Shroff would be filing an affidavit showing the “deep involvement” of his brother in the will.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised German shipping and logistics provider Dachser in acquiring 50 per cent shares of Dachser India from its local joint venture partner the AFL Group which was advised by AZB & Partners.

JSA Bombay M&A partner Sandeep Mehta, senior associate Arup Pereira and associates Punita Gupta and Adil Ladha acted for Dachser. AZB Mumbai partner Abhijit Joshi, senior associate Anand Shah and associate Navroz Vakil acted for the AFL Group.

This deal was part of a larger transaction by which Dascher acquired AFL's stake in a separate JV in Thailand and majority stake in another venture in Bangladesh, according to VC Circle.

SEBI has banned real estate giant DLF and six managers from the capital markets for three years after a finding of fraud.

J Sagar Associates advised Bay Capital Investment Managers and the promoters of Sterling Holiday Resorts India on selling Sterling for Rs 870 crore to the Prem Watsa-backed Thomas Cook India, which was advised by AZB & Partners.

JSA Mumbai partners Sandeep Mehta and Rajesh Pal and senior associate Malav Shah acted for Bay Capital and Sterling’s promoters. AZB partner Ashwin Ramanathan, senior associate Bhavi Sanghvi and associate Rinki Ganguli acted for Thomas Cook.

This is Thomas Cook India's second purchase after Ikya Human Solutions in February 2013 and marks its foray into the hospitality sector, reported the TOI.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs in the sale of its 73 per cent stake in City View Bangalore Properties to a joint venture floated by Blackstone and realty player Embassy Group. Blackstone and Embassy were advised by Amarchand Mangaldas and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

JSA Bangalore partner Vivek K Chandy and senior associate Siddharth K Vedula acted for Goldman Sachs.Amarchand Bangalore partner Reeba Chacko and senior associate Kota Chandan acted for Blackstone and Embassy.

Goldmans exited the JV through the deal after several failed attempts since 2012, reported the ET. The remaining stake in it is held by Westcourt and Century Real Estate Holdings.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Mumbai salaried partner Vikrant Patwardhan has joined the world’s largest independent steel trader Stemcor as its general counsel India.