AZB & Partners

Acting for lenders and borrowers, AZB & Partners is a respected practice led by Bahram Vakil, a market-leading lawyer and an “expert in his own field”. A client praises the team for “providing alternatives to difficult situations”. Leading lawyer Gautam Saha and Dushyant Bagga continue to develop a close relationship with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank Group, advising it on a $50 million working capital loan facility to Bangladesh’s Prime Bank. Anand Shah has acted for IndusInd Bank on a $75 million term loan facility for Spandana Sphoorty Financial, a Hyderabad microfinancier. “Good and experienced counsels who worked with us at every stage of the deals,” notes a client.

Varoon Chandra (Delhi) and Madhurima Mukherjee (Mumbai) not only lead the talented practice at AZB & Partners but are also aggressively pursuing transactions in the debt and equity capital markets. Leading lawyer Chandra, Lionel D’Almeida and Arvind Ramesh, elevated to partner in 2017, have been advising BNP Paribas on its offer for sale, along with the State Bank of India, of 120 million shares in SBI Life Insurance. The deal is expected to top $1 billion. Mukherjee and Agnik Bhattacharyya have acted for publisher S Chand And Company in its Rs7.3 billion IPO. Mukherjee and Bhattacharyya also teamed to advise the lead book managers on the $375 million senior notes listed by HPCL Mittal Energy on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

AZB & Partners joins the highly recommended tier on the back of strong performances in merger and joint venture clearances. Practice head Samir Gandhi, a leading lawyer, and new partner Rahul Rai have acted for Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank in its purchase of 20% stake worth Rs90.7 billion in One97 Communications, owner of digital payments platform Paytm.

Headed by Sai Krishna Bharathan, Nohid Nooreyezdan and Hardeep Sachdeva, AZB & Partners remains a powerhouse in mergers and financings in India’s real estate industry. Sachdeva and Ravi Bhasin acted for Xander Group to establish a $450 million joint venture with APG, a Dutch pension fund, including the sale of two of Xander’s portfolio companies to the venture: Sugam Vanijya and Dhanlaxmi Infrastructure. The deal was one of the largest private-equity transactions in India’s retail real estate sector in the past 12 months.

AZB & Partners, led by market-leading lawyers Zia Mody and Ajay Bahl, is a trusted adviser for corporate and M&A work. “Their strength lies in providing strategic advice,” says a client. “Hard working” Darshika Kothari has represented Tata Son in its Rs3.5 billion ($55 million) acquisition of Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace stake in AirAsia India, making Tata and Malaysian airline AirAsia the dominant shareholders. “Their client centricity and commercial sense” are two other reasons to hire the team, according to a market commentator. Ashwath Rau, a leading lawyer, Dhruv Singhal, Anu Tiwari and Ganesh Rao have joined the team. Arriving from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Ami Parikh is to lead the new transaction support group.

AZB & Partners is a well-respected practice particularly for helping clients in difficult cross-border matters. Anindita Chowdhury and Aditya Bhatt represented IAE International Aero Engines in a near-$460 million corporate insolvency dispute against United Breweries, owner of embattled Kingfisher Airlines. Part of the matter has been about the client allegedly contributing to the airline’s collapse due to defective engines. Vijayendra Pratap Singh, the head of litigation, and Daksh Trivedi have acted for Malaysian healthcare provider IHH Healthcare’s Gleneagles Development and Continental Hospitals in an oppression and mismanagement case against a minority shareholder group before the National Company Law Tribunal in Hyderabad. The case is in arbitration in Singapore. Rajendra Barot continues as head of disputes, while Deepak Chopra, a senior partner, has joined as direct tax litigation head, bringing a team of 14 other fee earners from PDS Legal.

AZB & Partners is recommended for its trusted M&A advice to foreign and domestic insurance companies. Instructed by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, Rajendra Barot, practice co-head, and Arvind Ramesh advised on its sale of DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance for Rs20 billion. Corporate leading lawyer Ashwath Rau, having arrived from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and new partner Kashish Bhatia support the team.