Luthra & Luthra has leased another half-floor of 7,000 square feet in its Delhi office.

Luthra & Luthra has advised Abbott Laboratories in its 20 per cent open offer of the Indian subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals as part of the €5.2bn global acquisition of the Belgium-based pharma company.

Luthra & Luthra Delhi partner Aniket Sengupta has relocated to its Mumbai office, as part of the firm’s plans to further strengthen its presence in the financial capital.

Luthra & Luthra has closed the Rs 2400 crores ($521m) GVK Power (Goindwalsahib) project finance fundraising acting for IDBI Bank and a consortium of 12 others as lender’s counsel.

Luthra & Luthra’s projects team was led by Mumbai partner Vijaya Rao (pictured), assisted by managing associate Bikash Jhawar, and associates Pulkit Sharma and Sneha Jha.

Crawford Bayley has picked up the latest Government disinvestment mandate for India’s single largest iron ore producer and exporter National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), following Amarchand Mangaldas, Fox Mandal Little and Luthra & Luthra bagging the three other disinvestments of the past four months.

Amarchand Mangaldas has significantly expanded its lead in the qualified institutional placement (QIP) stakes, acting on eight out of 18 QIPs filed in the third quarter of 2009. AZB & Partners and Khaitan & Co bagged three mandates each, with J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Crawford Bayley picking up two each.

In December 2009 Luthra & Luthra slipped past Khaitan & Co into second place in the initial public offering (IPO) league tables after acting on three IPOs with Khaitan bagging two instructions. Crawford Bayley took three deals and drew level with AZB & Partners as the fourth busiest Indian IPO firm, while Amarchand Mangaldas built up its lead with five mandates.

Sole law firm candidate and Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi has won a seat on the Delhi Bar Council in 22nd place out of 25 candidates with almost 640 votes.

LuthraLuthra-Vijay-Sondhi Luthra & Luthra billings will have seen a dent on Wednesday as a legion of the firm’s lawyers patrolled the Delhi High Court during the Delhi Bar Council elections garnering last-minute support for their candidate Vijay Sondhi (pictured) . Contesting lawyers, commuters...

The Delhi offices of Amarchand Mangaldas and Luthra & Luthra have advised Dish TV in issuing GDRs (Global Depository Receipts) worth Rs. 465 crores ($100m) to Apollo Management for an 11 per cent stake in the company.

Luthra & Luthra’s and Kochhar & Co’s Delhi offices have advised on the 69 per cent acquisition of NDTV Lifestyle by US company Scripps Networks Interactive for Rs 254.5 crores ($55m).

Trilegal has qualified for Delhi’s Turf Twenty20 Cup for Law Firms with a perfect score after convincing wins in two games this weekend. Luthra & Luthra has also qualified by winning all its games, while Dua Associates and Kohli & Sobti qualify with two wins each alongside four other law firm teams.

Luthra & Luthra and Dua Associates are dead certs to qualify for the quarter finals in Delhi’s Twenty20 Cup for Law Firms after topping each of their respective pools though for six other teams anything is still possible.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Luthra & Luthra co-ordinated the Rs 62.2 crore ($13.5m) cash and equity acquisition of DLF-owned DT Cinemas chain by entertainment chain PVR.

Many law firm lawyers complain that the Bar Council does not represent their interests.

Now Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi is running for the Delhi Bar Council elections on a ticket of representing law firms and their lawyers.

But are any law firmites going to rock the vote?

Luthra & Luthra has leased a new floor in its existing Delhi building, moving its corporate team of 60 heads into the 7,000 square-foot-area last week.

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.

Luthra & Luthra has closed two project finance deals out of Delhi and Mumbai this week, acting on the Rs 1,497 crores ($325m) Gujarat road development project and the Rs 4,000 crore ($850m) syndicated term loan for Cairn India to develop oil fields.

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.

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.