Platinum Partners

Talwar Thakore Associates (TTA) former competition head and executive chairman Vinod Dhall, whose collaboration relationship we had reported on Tuesday to have ended, has resurfaced quickly and joined Platinum Partners with the “senior advisor” tag, Bar & Bench has reported.

“Procter & Gamble has agreed to acquire Merck KGaA’s consumer health unit for 3.4 billion euros ($4.2 billion), giving it vitamin brands such as Seven Seas and greater exposure to Latin American and Asian markets,” reported CNBC. The transaction involved the acquisition of Merck Limited, a listed Indian company, through Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V, including 3,300 Merck employees. A mandatory tender offer to minority shareholders will be made for the Indian entity.

Corporate associate Sunandan Majumdar has been promoted to salaried partnership in Platinum Partners’ Mumbai office, effective 1 April 2018. specialises in corporate M&A and is a 2008 graduate of NUJS Kolkata.

Nihar Mody, the co-founding partner of Platinum Partners and head of the Mumbai office, has retired at age 51 last week.

Platinum Partners Mumbai partner Gautam Bhat with associate Abhik Ghosh and associate Ushma Marwah, and Sidley Austin led by partner Manoj Bhargava, of counsel Vivek Baid, and associate Rishabh Gupta, advised Essar on the sale of its BPO subsidiary Aegis to Capital Square partners.

Vinod Dhall in collaboration with Talwar Thakore & Associates (TT&A) advised French drugmaker Sanofi on getting Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval for its $25bn asset swap deal with Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim which was advised by Platinum Partners.

"India has a new tech unicorn. Hike, a four-year-old messaging app, today announced that it has closed $175 million in funding led by new investors Chinese internet giant Tencent and manufacturing firm Foxconn. The Series D round values the company at $1.4 billion, founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal confirmed to TechCrunch,” reported Techcrunch.

CX Partners (a PE firm focused on the Indian mid-market) and Capital Square Partners sold for $420m its stake in Minacs to Concentrix Global Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Synnex Corporation, as reported by the Economic Times as one of the largest in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, and Concentrix’ second largest deal.

Desai & Diwanji advised the Bector Family and Motilal Oswal Private Equity on their Rs 450 crore ($67.5m) exit from Ludhiana based food and beverage company Mrs Bectors Food Specialities, after selling their minority stake in it. Private equity firms CX Partners, advised by Platinum Partners, and Gateway Partners, advised by AZB & Partners bought the stake. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised Bectors Food.

D&D Delhi partner Rachna Jain and associates Nakul Batra and Rahul Chaddah advised the sellers on this, one of the largest packaged F&B sector private equity deals according to the firm’s press release.

Platinum Bengaluru partner Ankit Majmudar and associates Yamini Dwarakanath and Jagriti Mohata advised CX Partners.

AZB Delhi partner Sachin Mehta and Mumbai associate Vinit Nalavadi acted for Gateway Partners.

SAM Delhi partner Raghubir Menon, principal associate Gaurav Dayal and associate Aritra Roy acted for Bector Foods and its promoter Anoop Bector and his family members on the transaction.

CX and Gateway have reportedly invested Rs 450 crore in MBFSL for a 47 percent stake in the company reported Deal Street Asia.