Trilegal

Trilegal counsel Nitish Nair will join multinational hospitality giant Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which owns such hotel brands as the Westin, Sheraton and Le Méridien, as its associate director legal, South Asia.

Amarchand Mangaldas Gurgaon-based partner Ravindra Bandhakavi is in the final stages of discussions to join Trilegal.

Getting the ratio of partners to non-partner fee-earners right has its rewards, but it is, at best, an inexact science.

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.

Nishith Desai Associates advised Caspian Impact Investments (CII) on its $20m debt financing from the US government’s development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which was advised by Trilegal.

NDA Mumbai partner Nishchal Joshipura and associates Sahil Shah and Nikhil Joseph, with Caspian director Shilpa Sudhakar and in house lawyer Mayank Mishra acted for Caspian.

Trilegal Mumbai partner Ameya Khandge and Sidhharth Saxena acted for OPIC The two-year-old CII supports small business lending, microfinance, food & agriculture and affordable housing business in India, according to Business Insider.

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.

As promised, Trilegal has announced a massive pay hike to fresh graduates joining the firm, bumping up salaries to Rs 1.1 lakh per month excluding an optional annual bonus of up to Rs 2.2 lakh.

Trilegal has promoted Gautam Singh and Kunal Chandra to its partnership in Mumbai.

Chandra joined the firm in 2006 and specialises in corporate.

Singh joined the firm in 2010 and focuses on corporate M&A and private equity.

Trilegal management committee member Rahul Matthan commented: “Gautam and Kunal are welcome additions to the firm’s corporate practice. They have both been with the firm for a long time and fully imbibe the culture and work ethic of the partnership. They bring strong technical skills and will help deepen our relationship with our clients.”

Trilegal has moved to a bigger office in Delhi, leaving its Kailash Colony space for a space in DLF South Court, Saket, which can accommodate 160 people instead of the current 100, reported Bar & Bench.

Trilegal partner Anand Prasad told B&B that the firm is looking to make lateral hires to the partnership and bring on board “quality professionals”.

In Mumbai, AZB & Partners is also slated to move offices, from its South Mumbai office to the mid-town Peninsula Corporate Park in Lower Parel.

Rajani Singhania & Partners acted for online financial services marketplace Apna Paisa Marketing and Services and its promoters in its merger with Trilegal-advised Casa Capital Management, which is a financial services holding company.

Rajani Singhania Mumbai partner Preeti Balwani, with senior associate Swati Rout and associate Varun Shah acted for Apna Paisa, while Trilegal Mumbai partner Ashwyn Misra and associate Saswat Subasit acted for Casa Capital.

Casa will take a stake in Apna Paisa, while the Apna Paisa promoters will take compulsorily convertible preference shares of the equity share capital of the merged Apna and Casa entity, which is expected to complete within the next 18 months.

Trilegal has promoted Delhi litigation counsel Shankh Sengupta to equity partnership, as the firm’s 24th equity partner.

Former Trilegal counsel and regulatory practice head Sakya Singha Chaudhuri has joined HSA Advocates as partner to head the firm’s regulatory practice. Chaudhuri left Trilegal in the last week of July and joined HSA in August.

Khaitan & Co and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto advised Tokyo-based SBS Holdings in buying a 66 per cent stake in Transpole Logistics, which was advised by Trilegal.

Khaitan Delhi partner Rajat Mukherjee, associate partner Harsh Kumar, executive director Daksha Baxi and competition partner Manas Kumar Chaudhuri, together with Mori Hamada of counsel Yohei Koyama acted for SBS. The acquisition is costing SBS Rs 446 crore ($73.5m), according to Dealcurry.

Trilegal Mumbai partner Amit Tambe with senior associate Anjali Menon and associate Kevin Peter acted for Transpole and the existing investors – Everstone and Fidelity.

Trilegal advised US-based multimedia company Tribune’s Singapore arm in its Rs 161 crore ($27m) acquisition of What’s On India Media which was advised by V Law.

Trilegal Bangalore partner Kosturi Ghosh acted for Tribune Digital Ventures – the Singapore arm. V Law founding partner Vivek Daswaney acted for the Mumbai-based television guide firm whose existing investors – Nexus India, INTEL Capital and Sequoia Capital exited through this deal, according to VC Circle.

Indus Law advised old client and online marketplace Snapdeal’s parent Jasper Infotech in its $100m (Rs 590 crore) second round of funding from US-based BlackRock Financial Management, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Hong Kong-based Myriad Asset Management and Tybourne Capital Management, and Azim Premji’s Premji invest