L&L Partners

If all you care about are the top spots, not much has changed in the rankings of the 40 leading corporate Indian law firms that London-based RSG Consulting has produced since 2008.

NUJS Kolkata has set a new Day Zero record, with 40 students having accepted jobs after kicking off its 2016-batch campus recruitments on 17 and 18 April.

Luthra & Luthra has hired two new Mumbai partners: ex-State Bank of India deputy general manager (law) Priyamvada Haridas in banking and finance, and Shinoj Koshy from Nishith Desai Associates in corporate, as reported by Bar & Bench.

Haridas joined SBI from GLC Calicut after graduating in 1986; Koshy is a 2004 NLSIU Bangalore graduate who spent time at Linklaters joining Nishith Desai in 2013.

Partners Rajiv Luthra and Mohit Saraf did not respond to Legally India emails seeking comment.

In what will possibly have been its last quarter of existing as a single firm, Amarchand Mangaldas again acted on the most valuable M&A deals though AZB & Partners emerged as the firm with the largest number of recorded transactions.

GNLU Gandhinagar has already placed a total of 24 students on its Day Zero held yesterday, out of a batch of 155, of whom 115 took part in the recruitment process.

Amarchand maintained its standing as India’s clear M&A leader topping the annual chart for the third year in a row.

Herbert Smith Freehills London senior associate Rajesh Chavda, will join Luthra & Luthra as a partner in its Delhi infrastructure and natural resources practice in April 2015.

Desai & Diwanji and Luthra & Luthra acted on the sale of Jaipur Mahua Tollway, a four-laning project conessionnaire of the Jaipur-Mahua section of National Highway 11, for Rs 525 crore to ISQ Asia Infrastructure I, an affiliate of US-based fund I Squared Capital.

Desai & Diwanji Mumbai partner Ketaki Gor Mehta, assisted by associates Niharika Mepani and Rahul Deodhar, acted for the IJM group.

Luthra & Luthra partners Sameen Vyas, Manmeet Singh and Suyash Srivastava, assisted by senior associate Viplav Sharma and associates Anubha Sital and Shantanu Gupta, acted for ISQ

Only 74 per cent of equity shares will be sold now, with the remaining 26 per cent being sold after approval from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through put and call options.

Luthra & Luthra and Clifford Chance advised CLSA India, Citigroup Global Markets India, Credit Suisse Securities (India), ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and IDFC Securities as joint book running lead managers on CESC’s $80m qualified institutional placement (QIP) of 7.6m shares, which was reported Mint and others. CESC was advised by Khaitan & Co.

Luthra Mumbai capital markets partner Manan Lahoty and Clifford Chance Singapore partner Rahul Guptan acted for the lead managers on the Rule 144A/Regulation S QIP of 7,621,118 equity shares at a price of Rs 644 per equity share.

Khaitan Mumbai executive director Sudheer Bassi and partner Nikhilesh Panchal acted for the power utility.

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

Amarchand Mangaldas maintained its top spot in intelligence provider mergermarket’s M&A league rankings this quarter.

MNK Law Offices M&A and private equity partner Nivedita Tiwari, who joined one year ago from Luthra & Luthra, has joined Platinum Partners in Delhi, according to an authoritative source.

Some of the deals lawyers have been working on this month that we didn’t manage to cover separately.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) acted for Swiss lock maker Kaba Holding on increasing its investment in its Indian joint venture with Dorset to 74 per cent.

Luthra & Luthra partner Bobby Chandhoke advised the Indian shareholders in the JV, Dorset, while JSA partners Upendra Nath Sharma & Pallavi Puri with associates Shantanu Jindel and Pranav Gadi acted for Kaba.

The additional acquisition of 25 per cent by Kaba was structured as a preferential alotment and also included three additional business acquisitions by the Swiss company via a slump sale, as reported by VCCircle.

Madhurima Mukherjee, who had left Luthra & Luthra a year ago, has joined AZB & Partners in Delhi as a capital markets partner, according to several authoritative sources.