Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co > Mumbai, India > Firm Profile

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co > The Legal 500 Rankings

India > Antitrust and competition Tier 1

Led by John Handoll, the team at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co excels in all areas of competition law, including merger control, leniency proceedings, cartel investigations, abuse of dominance claims, and competition compliance matters. Naval Chopra is well versed in advising on complex abuse of dominance claims and merger control proceedings, also key areas of expertise for corporate and competition law expert Shweta Shroff Chopra. Harman Singh Sandhu defends large multi-national clients in high-profile cartel enforcement cases and leniency matters, while Yaman Verma and Rohan Arora are active in abuse of dominance cases. Merger control expert Aparna Mehra is also singled out.

India > Banking and finance Tier 1

The sizable team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has a strong track record of working with both lenders and borrowers on the full range of finance matters. The team, which is led by Shardul Shroff, works with a diverse set of clients, including domestic and international banks, private equity sponsors, institutional investors, clearing corporations, NBFCs, multilateral institutions, specialty funds, and corporate borrowers. Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia regularly advises companies on fintech-related investments and product structuring, while Shubhangi Garg focuses on debt capital markets and structured finance work. Zubin Mehta is known for his expertise in bank acquisitions and bank exit strategies in India, and Deepto Roy is experienced in handling project finance mandates in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Other key members include Veena Sivaramakrishnan, Soummo Biswas and Anurag Dwivedi.

India > Capital markets Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co‘s team is strong across all categories of capital market transactions, including primary offerings of bonds by domestic issuers and global offerings of equity securities. Team lead Prashant Gupta has a strong reputation in equity and debt transactions and extensive expertise in IPOs, follow-on offerings and capital restructurings. Nikhil Naredi, who leads the equity capital markets team, covers a broad range of securities offerings for investors, issuers and investment banks, while Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia specialises in structured finance and debt offerings. Shubangi Garg is recognised for her expertise in debt investments and listed NCD issuances by InvITs and REITs, while Sayantan Dutta regularly assists government departments and merchant banks with disinvestment transactions. Manjari Tyagi is another key contact.

India > Corporate and M&A Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co specialises in handling both domestic and international M&A, and regularly leverages the services of its various practice areas including antitrust, employment, and tax. The team has in-depth expertise across a full range of industries, ranging from media and entertainment to pharmaceutical, along with demonstrating substantial strength in managing IP and real estate elements within M&A. From New Delhi, the group’s co-head Shardul Shroff handles financing matters, whilst Gunjan Shah frequently represents global and domestic private equity funds. Akshay Chudasama is an expert on dealing with cross-border transactions, and in Mumbai, Raghubir Menon is recommended for his advice to corporates and sovereign wealth funds. New Delhi-based Puja Sondhi is knowledgeable on foreign investment and regulatory affairs, and Mithun Thanks has a special focus on private equity. Manish Gupta arrived to the team from IndusLaw in October 2023.

India > Dispute resolution: arbitration Tier 1

The dispute resolution practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co stands out for its ‘international breadth of background and experience,’ routinely acting for clients across the financial services, consumer goods, entertainment, and insurance sectors. Pallavi Shroff oversees the firm’s overall dispute practice, while Tejas Karia heads the arbitration team. The team is well-versed in all phases of commercial and treaty arbitrations, including drafting pleadings, conducting hearings, and advising on negotiation strategy. ‘Formidable advocate‘ Binsy Susan routinely handles complex international and domestic commercial arbitrations for clients across the construction, IT, and telecoms sectors. Also in the core team is Ila Kapoor, who is recommended for arbitrations in the hospitality, infrastructure, and healthcare sectors. Unless otherwise stated, all mentioned individuals are based in New Delhi.

India > Insurance Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co is a go-to firm for large marquee insurance transactions, covering the structuring of insurance joint ventures, the formation and licensing of insurance companies, M&A and investments, and withdrawals from the market. The team further handles regulatory issues, acting for a broad range of insurers, reinsurers, brokers, web aggregators and other insurance intermediaries. Praised as a ‘living encyclopedia in the insurance sector’, clients endorse practice head Shailaja Lall for her comprehensive insurance sector expertise, leveraging her 20 years’ worth of experience in the field. Other recommended individuals include cross-border transactional expert Anu Susan Abraham and Ashish Teni, whose wide-ranging capabilities include drafting policies for life insurance companies, among others.

India > Private client Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co‘s New Delhi-based practice is the first port of call for notable family businesses, promoters of large corporate houses, high net-worth individuals and non-Indian residents on various assignments, including estate and succession planning, family settlements and the creation of wills and private trusts. The team combines its experience to work across the manufacturing, automobile, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, IT and financial services sectors. Department head Divi Dutta specialises in trusts, wills, estates and private wealth planning for high-net-worth individuals. Other recommended individuals include senior associate Mohona Thakur and associate Navya Mehrotra, who often support Dutta on key matters.

India > Private equity and investment funds Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, noted for its expertise in private equity transactional advisory mandates, advises blue-chip and sovereign funds on strategic transactions and investments. The ‘flawless’ practice is led by Shardul Shroff, Gunjan Shah, Raghubir Menon and Iqbal Khan. Other key contacts include Puja Sondhi and Nivedita Tiwari, both of whom bring experience in private equity and venture capital investments, Manav Nagaraj , Mithun Thanks, Anuj Bhasme, Abhishek Guha and Tanya Uppal, who collectively boast specialisation in private equity across a diverse range of sectors including finance, technology, logistics and healthcare, among others.

India > Projects and energy Tier 1

At Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, the department counts government authorities and investors as key clients, and is well known for its strength in advising on transactions in relation to oil and gas, airports, and road projects. The team’s experience spans negotiating concession agreements, EPC contracts, and project finance and infrastructure matters. New Delhi-based practice head Jatin Aneja regularly acts for multinational clients in the energy and urban infrastructure sectors, while Anurag Dwivedi advises on structured finance and debt capital market transactions in the projects space. Deepto Roy represents construction contractors and financial institutions, and Kushal Sinha focuses on joint ventures and M&A transactions.

India > Real estate and construction Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co maintains a thriving real estate and construction practice, housing a specialised team equipped to advise a varied client base, including real estate owners, buyers, lessors, lenders and developers, on a wide range of complex issues, ranging from contract, construction and title disputes, to loan services and foreclosure issues. Co-managing partner Akshay Chudasama specialises in cross-border transactions and regularly represents clients on corporate and private equity transactions, while Bhoumick Vaidya’s expertise ranges from title diligence and acquisition of lands for development of commercial and residential properties, to private equity and debt transactions, leases, leave and license, joint ventures and joint developments. Aarthi Lakshminarayanan routinely advises on statutory compliance and regulatory matters, special economic zone laws, mitigation of risks, title exceptions and complex real estate transactions, while Mrinal Kumar conducts notable work on structuring M&A, private equity transactions, foreign direct investment laws and land acquisition.

India > Restructuring and insolvency Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, headed by the experienced Shardul Shroff, has acted for lenders, borrowers, stressed asset funds as well as foreign and domestic banks, among other financial institutions. The firm provides a full range of services from recovery litigation, asset reconstruction and debt recovery to negotiating of secured and unsecured financing transactions. Partner Anoop Rawat is at the forefront of many of the firm’s most significant cases; he has experience representing various stakeholders, including resolution applicants and foreign investors. Other prominent members of the team include Misha, Vaijayant Paliwal and Saurav Panda.

India > Tax Tier 1

The extensive offering from the tax practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co includes tax planning, advisory and litigation services. The firm’s tax advisory encompasses areas such as M&A transactions, business restructuring and succession planning. Compliance consultancy comprises part of the tax practice’s work as it advises its clients in relation to various direct and indirect tax compliances. The team also assists its clients with support throughout investigation before various tax investigating agencies. Rajat Bose is the key contact for tax planning, advisory and litigation support for GST-related matters, while Abhay Sharma is experienced in inbound and outbound investment structuring, as well as corporate restructuring. Gouri Puri is also a key name for international tax planning and digital tax. Overseeing the practice is managing partner Pallavi Shroff .

India > TMT Tier 1

The New Delhi-based practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has a strong track record of handling complex litigation, particularly surrounding media and IP-related disputes. The team’s expertise is wide in scope, ranging from privacy and data breaches to regulatory compliance and contractual disagreements. Tejas Karia has great experience of advising clients on data security and e-commerce issues, and Swati Agarwal covers all aspects of information technology laws and regulation having joined the firm from Amazon in May 2022. Varun Pathak specialises in handling commercial litigation and arbitration, whilst principal associate Shashank Mishra and associate Akshi Rastogi are also noted.

India > White-collar crime Tier 1

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co advises clients on internal investigations and compliance matters, as well as representing them throughout regulatory and criminal proceedings brought by law enforcement and government agencies. The team offers strong expertise across a wide range of anti-corruption and financial crime legislation, including the US FCPA, and is noted for its work in full trials as well as its dawn raid response capabilities. The team is led by managing partner Pallavi Shroff, a vastly experienced figure in the space with a successful record at trial, who advises a number of company boards on strategic compliance issues, alongside Nishant Joshi, also an accomplished white-collar litigator, and Alina Arora, a key name for corporate investigations, including multi-jurisdictional internal proceedings. Samarth Gupta has a notable specialism in handling internal investigations relating to private equity investors and industrial relations. All lawyers are based in New Delhi.

India > Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 2

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co’s comprehensive disputes offering runs the gamut of commercial, domestic, and cross-border litigation, with notable strength in the banking and finance space. Managing partner Pallavi Shroff heads the team; she has a broad practice with notable emphasis on white-collar crime and commercial dispute resolution. Veteran litigator Shally Bhasin acts for clients in the telecom and infrastructure sectors, and Aashish Gupta takes point on tax litigation and regulatory proceedings. Ajit Warrier is a key name for contractual, corporate, and commercial disputes, while Ameya Gokhale is a key contact in the firm’s Mumbai office.

India > Fintech and financial services regulatory Tier 2

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co is well positioned to advise major fintech platforms on product structuring, regulatory compliance and strategy. The firm also works with a wide range of  investors on issues connected with strategic investments in the fintech space. Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia oversees matters from the firm’s Delhi office. She assists slew of household names, such as American Express, Whatsapp and Revolut with a host of fintech issues. Foreign direct investment in the fintech and payments space is a core part of Shubhangi Garg‘s practice. Ekta Gupta frequently leverages her corporate experience to advise on fintech mandates. Himanshu Malhotra has a proven track record in advising major multinationals on their product offerings.

India > Labour and employment Tier 2

Leveraging the firm’s broader strength across other practice areas, the dedicated Delhi-based labour and employment team at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co has notable strength in benefits, industrial relations, workforce management, and transactional mandates. Practice head Pooja Ramchandani takes point on corporate restructurings and M&A-related employment issues; she is assisted by senior associate Suryansh Gupta. Kriti Kaushik was promoted to partner in September 2022 and has particular strength advising on compensation, benefits, and executive engagement matters, whilst Suruchi Kumar is the key contact for industrial relations, investigations, and issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

India > Life sciences and healthcare Tier 2

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co primarily works with domestic and global pharma companies on regulatory compliance matters, including DCA licensing, manufacturing, and distribution, as well as working with e-commerce and medical devices clients on regulatory developments, commercial operations, and clinical trials. The firm also has notable cross-border transactional expertise in the life sciences space, advising private equity investors on a range of deals, including distressed acquisitions. Key names in the team include Mumbai’s Iqbal Khan and New Dehli-based Puja Sondhi, both experienced advisors on M&A, PE, and VC deals across the space.

City focus: Bengaluru > Leading firms Tier 3

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co 's Bengaluru office is headed by Manav Nagaraj who is accomplished in corporate transactions, with a specific focus on public M&A. The team acts for both domestic and international corporates and private equity players and includes expertise in inbound/outbound investment and debt financing.  

Intellectual property Tier 3

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co offers wide-ranging IP expertise to its roster of domestic and international clients, covering everything from conceptualisation to enforcement and from negotiations to the creation of complex corporate structures. Practice head Dev Robinson handles a host of IP matters, with particular expertise in patent searches, prosecution matters and strategies in relation to competitors. The team also includes seasoned litigator JV Abhay, who specialises in trademark, domain name, copyright, design and breach of confidence issues in the fashion, hotel, telecoms, media and entertainment, and pharmaceuticals sectors. Both named lawyers are based in New Delhi.