The Legal 500

The ‘excellent’ team at AZB & Partners advised Bharti Airtel its $10.7bn acquisition of the pan-African operations of Zain from MTC Telecommunications. It also acted for Vedanta Resources on acquiring a controlling interest in Cairn India. Other clients include Reliance Industries, JFE Steel Corporation and Fortis Healthcare. Zia Mody is ‘outstanding’.

‘A real leader in the field for corporate work’, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co advised Piramal Healthcare on its 
$640m acquisition of 5.5% of Vodafone Essar’s shares. Managing partner Cyril Shroff is recommended.

Khaitan & Co.’s team advised iGATE on purchasing a controlling stake in Patni 
Computer Systems, and acted for Reliance Industries on its $1.7bn purchase of a 40% stake in Atlas Energy. Haigreve Khaitan, Ravi Kulkarni, Rabindra Jhunjhunwala and Vaishali Sharma 
are the key individuals, along with Anand Mehta and Ketan Kothari, who recently joined from Thakker & Thakker.

Desai & Diwanji represented Carlyle Capital in its $1bn bid to acquire Patni Computer Systems and advised Quippo Telecom Infrastructure on selling a significant shareholding in Viom Networks to Macquarie SBI Infrastructure Trust and State Bank of India. Vishwang Desai heads the team.

J Sagar Associates acted for Hitachi
Transport System, a unit of Hitachi Japan, on its acquisition of Flyjac. Other clients include Aptech, Decision One and Kuka Systems.

Wadia Ghandy & Co advised SKR BPO Services, Intelenet Global Services’ holding company, on the latter’s $634m sale to Serco.

Bharucha & Partners advised HSBC on acquiring RBS’s retail and commercial banking businesses in India. Other clients include 
Aditya Birla Group and United Business Media. Practice head Alka Bharucha is highly recommended.

Crawford Bayley & Co acted for CNH Global on the $45m full buyout of Larsen & Toubro’s stake in its joint venture partnership L&T-CASE Equipment.

DSK Legal advised JSW Steel Group on its $219m joint venture in India with Severfield. It also advised CSC SoftTech on its acquisition of the structural engineering division of SoftTech. The ‘pragmatic’ Anand Desai heads this responsive team.

Economic Laws Practice advised Mayfield on its investment in Sohanlal Commodity Management, and advised Canada-based SNC Lavalin on its investment into an SPV. Suhail Nathani heads the team. Darshan Upadhyay joined from A.R.A. LAW.

FoxMandal Little’s clients have included GTPL and India Home Furnishing.

Gagrats acted for RSM McGladrey on establishing a joint venture in India; and advised Dodsal Group on acquisitions in India’s fast food sector. Other clients include Kirloskar Oil Engines and Forbes Marshall. Rustam Gagrat is recommended.

Kanga & Co has acted for clients such as State Bank of India and Claridges Hotel.

Kochhar & Co has been advising Enersys on a proposed acquisition in India, advised a multinational on Indian legal compliance and other issues arising from a global acquisition of assets. Kerry Group, Tenneco Automotive India, Dolphin Offshore Enterprises and 
Fortis Sports & Entertainment are also clients. Rajarshi Chakrabarti is ‘an excellent lawyer’.

Luthra & Luthra’s team is ‘highly detail oriented’ and exhibits ‘excellent response times’. It advised Abbott Laboratories on its $3.8bn acquisition of Piramal’s healthcare solutions business and acted for DLF Assets on the $600m purchase of DE Shaw’s shareholding in DAL. Mohit Saraf is regarded as ‘first rate’.

Majmudar & Co is recommended for its ‘quick response times’ and ‘excellent level of expertise’. The team acted as local counsel to Atos Origin, an IT services company, on purchasing 100% of 
Venture Infotek Global’s share capital. Akil Hirani heads the three-partner team, which was bolstered by the recruitment of Rukshad Davar from Bharucha & Partners.

Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe is highly regarded for its M&A experience.

Nishith Desai Associates advised Reliance Broadcast Network on its joint venture with CBS Studios International. Key individuals include Siddharth Shah.

Suresh Talwar and Kunal Thakore head the team at Talwar Thakore & Associates, which advised BP on its $9bn acquisition of a 30% stake in 23 oil and gas production blocks from 
Reliance Industries and on the formation of a joint venture between the two companies. It also acted for Serco Group in its purchase of Intelenet 
Global Services and Sparsh BPO Services. Feroz Dubash is recommended.

The ‘extremely professional’ team at Vaish Associates advised Super Religare Laboratories on buying the equity capital of Piramal Diagnostic Services from Piramal Healthcare and other shareholders. It also advised Dotex International on its acquisition of a stake in INXS 
Technologies. Bomi F Daruwala heads the three-partner team.

The ‘strong’ team at ALMT Legal advised the Compass Group on the INR470m acquisition of Vipul Facilities Management and acted for an Indian entity on the proposed acquisition of a listed company. Aliff Fazelbhoy heads the seven-partner practice.

Dave & Girish & Co has broad experience in M&A and corporate matters.

Dua Associates’ clients for corporate work include Emerging India Fund Management, Banca Sella and Alcoa.

Trilegal’s ‘excellent’ team advised Thomson Reuters on its acquisition of Pangea3 and acted for ORKLA on its acquisition of Rasoi Magic Foods. Sridhar Gorthi is recommended.

A.R.A. LAW’s managing partner Rajesh Begur is highly recommended. Darshan Upadhyay recently moved to Economic Laws Practice.

Advani & Co has strong expertise in advising on transactions and infrastructure projects, and has a substantial base among public sector clients.

Krishnava Dutt heads Argus Partners’ ‘experienced’ team, which acts for clients such as Tega Industries. Utsa Shome recently joined from HSA Advocates.

Brus Chambers, Advocates & Solicitors’ ‘proactive’ team represents clients including Schulman International Services, CeX WeBuy Entertainment and TI Cycles.

Clasis Law is a breakaway from ALMT Legal. Key clients include Aviva India and Emgee Group. Vineet Aneja is recommended.

D H Law Associates is advising a large Indian fertilizer, minerals and petrochemicals conglomerate on a joint venture to establish a mining exploration project. Nusrat Hassan and Santosh Pai are recommended.

Desai Desai Carrimjee & Mulla’s experience encompasses a range of corporate work including joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.

Gandhi & Associates advised Suminter India Organics on acquiring its joint venture partner based in the Netherlands. Vishal Gandhi is recommended.

HSA Advocates advised ACC Concrete on its equity investment in Aakaash Manufacturing Company. Bata India is another client.

Led by Amritha Ahuja, JBSS & Co advised a private limited company engaged in the educational services sector on its proposed joint venture with a Singaporean company. It also acted for Vinoot Herbals on converting from sole proprietorship to private limited company status.

Juris Corp’s clients have included Morgan Stanley.

MDP & Partners’ large corporate and commercial practice has experience advising on M&A, joint ventures and investments.

Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co’s clients include 3i Infotech and Raheja Princess Apartments.

Platinum Partners advised Actis on selling its stake in Paras Pharmaceuticals to Reckitt Benckiser; and acted for Sportech on its joint venture with Pan India Network, a subsidiary 
of Essel Group. Yashasvi Mohanram recently joined from White & Case LLP in Singapore.

Rajani Associates’ clients include Glodyne Technoserve, Mudra Lifestyle and APL Apollo Tubes. Reena Grover heads the team.

Singhania & Co is an experienced corporate adviser to local and international clients.

Singhania & Partners’ clients include ABS Group of Companies.

Solomon & Co. advised a leading irrigation company on its proposed private placement. Aaron Solomon is recommended.

Tyabji Dayabhai’s capable team is particularly praised for its aviation expertise and can handle a range of more general corporate matters.

Udwadia & Udeshi is highly recommended for corporate matters.

Vigil Juris has acted for clients such as Standard Chartered.