The Legal 500

‘Head and shoulders above the competition’, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co has the resources to undertake a tremendous volume of M&A and strategic investment mandates for corporates and private equity sponsors. It is active across a raft of industries including pharmaceuticals, financial, food and telecoms, and the team is regularly present on the highest-profile mandates in the market. Harry Chawla recently advised Visa Power on Blackstone’s $111m investment in the Indian power producer and the ‘thoughtful and very knowledgeable’ Gunjan Shah represented Aircel on the $1.4bn disposal of its telecoms tower business to GTL. The ‘excellent’ Shardul Shroff heads the practice.

One of the most prolific transactional firms in the market, AZB & Partners provides an ‘excellent service’ to both corporates and private equity firms. Anil Kasturi, who is well regarded, recently advised Warburg Pincus on its $140m investment in Diligent Power. Kasturi also acted for Max India on its $150m sale to an affiliate of Goldman Sachs. Percival Billimoria and Ajay Bahl are also recommended.

J Sagar Associates provides ‘very professional and solutions-oriented’ corporate and commercial advice to a solid roster of domestic and international clients. On the transactional side, Lalit Kumar and Trisheet Chatterjee advised GlobalLogic on Indian aspects of its acquisition of Rofous Software. Private equity mandates, which account for a significant proportion of the firm’s deal list, included advising Platina Partners on its investment in Resource Power. Jyoti Sagar is praised both for his legal advice and his ability to close transactions, and is a key member of a team that is lauded for its ‘tremendous work ethic’.

Luthra & Luthra’s five-partner practice provides ‘comprehensive and very clear advice’ to many corporates from a broad range of industries. Recent highlights include advising Cairn India as Vedanta Resources plc bought a $9.6bn controlling stake in it. On the buy side, the group advised Corn Products International on the Indian aspects of its $1.3bn purchase of National Starch from Akzo Nobel. Rajiv Luthra is recommended.

Praised for its ability to help clients ‘navigate the nuances of local cultural differences and business practice’, Kochhar & Co excels at advising multinational corporates on day-to-day 
corporate advisory work, as well as big-ticket transactional mandates. Recent highlights include advising MasterCard on its acquisition of ElectraCard Services and representing Stora Enso on the acquisition of a Chennai-based manufacturer. Other clients include Ericsson, BlackRock, Getty Images, Harland Clarke, and Kyocera. Rohit Kochhar heads the seven-partner team, which provides ‘very business and 
results-oriented advice’. Manishi Pathak is ‘very attuned to assisting clients with both the legal 
and non-legal business and local cultural issues’.

P & A Law Offices has an excellent reputation in New Delhi and advises numerous international clients on their day-to-day corporate and commercial needs. The firm is regularly instructed to advise on significant transactions. 
Managing partner Anand Pathak heads the practice and recently represented longstanding French client Schneider Electrics on its $115m acquisition of Mumbai-based Smartlink Network’s cabling systems business, Digilink. The team also benefits from its relationship with US-based Jones Day.

Trilegal is regularly involved in significant transactional mandates as well as ongoing commercial advisory work for a strong roster of corporates. Anand Prasad advised SAPA on its acquisition of Alufit India Private. On the private equity side, the firm’s experience includes 
various energy transactions, including acting for Berkeley Energy and Berkeley Energy Hydro Mauritius on investing into a hydroelectric project in Shimla.

DSK Legal suffered a setback following the recent departures of Gopika Pant and Piyoosh Gupta, but this was partially offset by the recruitment of Niraj Kumar from Agarwal Law Associates in April 2011 and Jagvir Singh’s promotion to partner. The Mumbai office remains the hub of the corporate practice, but the recent move to a larger office in New Delhi evidences a desire for a greater presence in the capital. The scope of the practice includes public and private M&A, joint ventures and restructurings.

Dua Associates represents major blue-chip corporates from a range of sectors on their inbound work, with such clients including General Electric, McDonald’s, General Motors and Rio Tinto. Neeraj Kumar and Sanjeev Kaul recently advised United Group on a joint venture with Texmaco to manufacture rail carriages. Other highlights included advising Banca Sella on reorganising its business including the recent merger of certain of its group companies in Italy and on the impact of the merger on the branch office in India.

The ‘exceptional’ corporate boutique Platinum Partners provides a ‘highly personalised service’ to domestic and international corporates across the full spectrum of corporate activity including M&A, joint ventures and private equity mandates. Recent highlights include advising EADS on its joint venture with Larson & Toubro. Other clients include Danone, Siemens, and State Street 
Bank and Trust. Karam Daulet-Singh, who is dual-qualified in the UK and India, heads the office 
and advises a raft of multinational corporates 
and banks on business law in India. Anuj Bhatia is also recommended.

FoxMandal Little resources a significant volume of M&A transactions, often staffed through multi-office teams. Som Mandal is recommended, particularly for transactions requiring IP knowledge.

HSA Advocates provides ‘apt and accurate’ advice to multinational and domestic corporates from various industry sectors, and advised Demag Cranes on its recent acquisitions and corporate transactions in India. Aparajit Bhattacharya provides ‘quality legal advice’.

Although it is overshadowed to some extent by its Mumbai capability, Khaitan & Co.’s New Delhi office is regularly involved in the firm’s corporate mandates. The firm is rapidly picking up market share and is praised for its ‘very 
well-rounded capabilities’ and ‘attention to detail’. Bharat Anand worked with Mumbai colleagues on L N Bangur Group’s $291m sale of a majority shareholding of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills. Recently promoted partner Rajat Mukherjee’s significant recent deals include representing Bush Foods Overseas Private on its $25m sale to Standard Chartered Private Equity.

Seth Dua & Associates is a ‘very highly responsive’, and ‘first-class small firm’ with ‘sound legal know-how and business experience’. Its 
clients include Veolia Water, Mitsui, Laing O’Rourke and Axis Private Equity. Energy transactions constitute a significant portion of the workload, and the team is advising Malaysian power group Genting Energy Group on several matters including on equity investments on several domestic power projects. Atul Dua (‘reliable and very experienced’) and Sunil 
Seth (‘highly knowledgeable and precise’) and Subodh Sadana (‘first-rate legal advice and guidance’) are recommended.

Titus & Co provides transactional and day-to-day commercial advice for international corporates investing in India. It advised Somani Group on its joint venture with Russian corporate Mechel Carbon, and set up an Indian subsidiary 
for PMS Engineering. Other clients include Himalaya Steel Mill Services, Itochu, Vittesse Semiconductor and IKEA Group. Diljeet Titus heads the practice.

Vaish Associates advises companies broadly on inbound and outbound work including 
M&A, investments, joint ventures and general advisory work. The firm’s ‘market-leading practice’ in the tax space is a useful adjunct. Satwinder Singh heads the team.

IndusLaw is well known for its private equity and venture capital prowess, and also provides general commercial advice to corporates. The team recently represented Helion Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Tiger Global on their $6m investment into Letsbuy.com. Gaurav Dani and Avimukt Dar are recommended.

At K. R. Chawla & Co, managing partner Harvansh Chawla has a busy corporate practice.

At Link Legal, the ‘exceptional’ Anand Srivastava represented Ambience Group on establishing its joint venture with ITC Hotels. In aviation, a core sector for the team, it represented Spicejet on the INR4.8bn sale of a minority stake to KAL Airways. The firm ‘comes up with 360-degree solutions as a multidisciplinary team’. Srivastava and Atul Sharma head the practice.

O.P. Khaitan & Co. Solicitors and Advocates represented a leading domestic commodities company on its acquisition of a coalmine in Zimbabwe and also drafted the same client’s shareholders agreement. Clients include Amira Foods, Anamika Sugar Mills, Infotech Design Systems and GS Home Shopping.

Phoenix Legal has a growing reputation as a ‘practical and knowledgeable’ transactional firm. It is particularly accomplished on deals involving an international component, and recently advised India Hospitality Corp on its $92m sale of its majority interest in Skygourmet Catering to Gategroup. Other clients include Sojitz, Accor Hotels, Standard Life and Visteon. Saket Shukla has an ‘understanding of the business side of the transaction so that a workable and balanced agreement is negotiated’.

Rajinder Narain & Co has strong relationships with numerous domestic corporates, particularly those in the New Delhi business community. The firm also regularly represents international corporates on inbound investments.

S&R Associates provides ‘a large-firm service with small-firm attention from partners’, resulting in ‘extremely efficient and responsive advice’. The ‘commercial and detailed’ Rajat Sethi recently advised Vodafone Group on the INR3.8bn increase of its stake in Telecom Investments India Pvt Ltd. Uday Walia has ‘extensive experience doing private equity transactions’, among them numerous deals for D E Shaw including investments in Pan India Motors and Sohan Renewable Energy India.

Singhania & Partners advises on day-to-day commercial matters and also handles some significant transactions such as Ricoh India’s acquisition of Momentum Infocare Pvt Ltd.
‘Seasoned corporate partner’ Dipak Rao is recommended along with the ‘excellent’ and ‘responsive’ Ravi Singhania, who heads the practice.

A breakaway firm from Dua Associates, Tatva Legal has quickly gained market share since inception at the beginning of 2010. Active in both strategic corporate and private equity M&A, the firm recently advised Gate Group on its acquisition of Skygourmet Catering. 
The ‘excellent’ Simran Singh led on the 
aforementioned deal; he and Shishir Sharma 
have an ‘excellent understanding of international law’.

APJ- SLG Law Offices is frequently instructed by foreign corporates on establishing companies in India. It also has a niche specialism incorporating charitable entities.

Archer & Angel represents domestic and international companies in inbound and outbound work.

Bhasin & Co advises aviation, hospitality and property sector clients on corporate and M&A mandates.

Chitale & Chitale Partners’ vastly experienced team advises foreign corporates on entry strategies into India, and also has significant competition law expertise.

Formed in April 2011 following a breakaway of partners from ALMT Legal, Clasis Law has already picked up some noteworthy corporate work through the well-regarded Vineet Aneja. Aneja recently advised Ascott Group on ending its joint venture with an Indian group.

Dhir & Dhir Associates represented PTC India Financial Services on selling part of its 
stake in Indian Energy Exchange to Bessemer Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The firm leverages its strong insolvency practice 
to advise on distressed M&A. Shivi Agarwal 
heads the team, which also includes the 
‘responsive and knowledgeable’ Madhav Rastogi.

India Juris handles a wide array of corporate and commercial work for a predominantly international-facing client base including US-based Modexis, which it advised on its establishment in India. Other clients include Syndicatum, ABB and Special Olympic. Managing partner Sameer Rastogi is a ‘very dedicated and knowledgeable professional’.

IndoJuris Law Offices’ clients are drawn from a range of sectors including manufacturing, food and beverages, healthcare, and energy.

Headed by Vikrant Singh Jafa, Jafa & Javali has an excellent reputation for advising international corporates on their inbound investments.
Recent highlights include advising Cobb Systems Group on its negotiations to purchase equity in an Indian software development and consulting company.

Established in 2009, boutique firm Juris Legal provides ‘excellent value for money’ for cross-border transactions. Managing partner Rupin Pawha combines ‘impressive knowledge, attention to detail and responsiveness’, and works 
prolifically for the SUN Group on its oil and gas investments.

KSB Partners handles strategic and 
private equity M&A, and advises clients on joint ventures and strategic alliances. Samir Bedi is the main contact.

A ‘highly promising mid-level law firm’, Kaden Boriss Partners provides ‘comprehensive, updated and holistic’ advice to a rapidly growing pool of international corporates. Recent highlights include conducting due diligence for Bayer BioScience regarding the proposed acquisition of a seed company in Gujarat. Managing partner Hemant Batra is praised for his ‘attention to detail, strategic nous and responsiveness’, and is an integral part of a team that also includes the ‘outstanding’ Harsh Sinha.

King, Stubb & Kasiva advises private and public companies across a range of industries.

Praised for its ‘well thought out and well researched advice’, LexCounsel handles a raft of corporate and commercial work for clients within the education, retail, biotechnology and healthcare sectors. It recently represented longstanding client Educomp Solutions on its $11m acquisition of Vidya Mandir. The ‘very responsive and professional’ Alishan Naqvee provides ‘clear and commercial advice’.

Leveraging its offices across India, as well as internationally in New York and London, Singhania & Co has the resources to handle both domestic and cross-border mandates.

Swarup & Company is particularly adept at handling transactions at the nexus of projects and corporate law. Shailendra Swarup is recommended.