Banking & Finance
Leading lawyer L Viawanathan and Leena Chacko manage Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’s team. Market-leading lawyer Cyril Shroff has teamed with new partner Rohil Vashist on a $170 million of acquisition financing for Plutus Financials, a special purpose vehicle established by Aion Capital Partners and former GE Capital duo Pramod Bhasin and Anil Chawla. Pranav Sharma advised Axis Bank on the issuance of Rs35 billion ($547 million) additional tier-1 bonds, regulatory capital banks need to comply with Basel III.
Capital Markets
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas continues its outstanding form by acting on many marquee deals. Market-leading lawyer Cyril Shroff and SR Patnaik acted for power company NTPC on its Rs20 billion green masala bond issue listed in Singapore and London, the first time an Indian company had issued such a bond. A green masala bond is a rupee-denominated bond issued abroad which complies with the Climate Bonds Initiative’s standards. CBI is an investor-driven organisation tracking the market, developing standards and recommending climate finance policies. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) also issued a circular in May 2017 about climate bonds’ disclosure norms. Shashikant Bhojani and Gaurav Gupte advised on the first IPO by an Indian insurance company: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s Rs60.6 billion debut. Leading lawyer and national practice head Yash Ashar remains at the helm, while Reuben Chacko, Abhinav Kumar and Vijay Partnasarathi have been made partners.
Competition & Antitrust
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is a reputable adviser and litigator in cartel investigations, abuse of dominance matters, and merger and joint venture clearances. Percival Billimoria, the Delhi office head and litigation chairman, manages the practice with Anshuman Sakle. Leading lawyer Rahul Goel has been representing Excel Crop Care before the Supreme Court in an antitrust matter dating back many years. In one of the first cartel cases to be decided on the merits, the Supreme Court ruled that Competition Commission of India (CCI) fines must be proportional to the relevant revenue of the offending party, an important victory for multi-product businesses when only one of its divisions is penalised. Bharat Budholia acted for India’s second-largest sports broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) in CCI abuse of dominance hearings during SPNI’s Rs26 billion merger with TEN Sports Network, the third largest. Leading lawyer Nisha Uberoi has joined Trilegal.
Construction & Real Estate
Led by Sandeep Dave (Mumbai) and Namrata Kolar (Bangalore), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is highly recommended for its trusted work in real-estate mergers and financings. Reeba Chacko and Ashish Ashish acted for RMZ Infotech in its Rs24 billion acquisition of Essar Group’s Equinox Business Parks, located in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla complex. Jaya Singhania, Sharad Mhatkar, Dave and Bharat Budholia advised the Hiranandani Group on the Rs67 billion sale of its Powai Mumbai office to Brookfield Asset Management.
Corporate/M&A
The partners at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas have been busy across sectors. Market-leading lawyer Cyril Shroff, Nivedita Tiwari and Rohil Vashist represented Plutus Financials, a special purpose vehicle established by two former GE executives to buy GE Capital Services India for an estimated $350 million. The transaction is part of GE’s goal to exit the financial services industry. Newly arrived Shagoofa Khan, a leading lawyer, advised the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its $1.3 billion joint venture with IndoSpace, an Indian industrial and logistics real estate developer. Vandana Shroff, Tushar Mavani, Aarti Joshi and Manu Varghese acted for Aditya Birla Group’s Ultratech Cement on its Rs161.9 billion acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates’s cement division. Former JP Morgan executive director Ruetveij Pandya, Manisha Kumar, Gautam Gandotra joined the practice.
Dispute Resolution & Litigation
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has a talented team in commercial litigation and arbitration, recruiting practice head Percival Billimoria, a leading lawyer, as head of the practice. Instructed by IDBI Bank, Indranil Deshmukh, Kirat Nagra, Leena Chacko and Aditya Mehta have been advising on a Rs5.3 billion loan default dispute with Hubtown, an Indian real estate developer. Kapil Arora and Ashwin Sapra represented Procter & Gamble before the Delhi High Court in a complex, fixed-dose drug ban matter, after the Indian government banned nearly 350 fixed-dose combinations. Litigators Faraz Sagar and Sidhartha Barua have joined from Trilegal and AZB & Partners, respectively.
Energy & Natural Resources
The deep bench at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas allows it to bring in different teams on large projects. In a cross-border matter with Japan and UK, Santosh Janakiram, head of projects, advised SoftBank on the development of 350 MW of solar power projects. The team drafted and reviewed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements, and advised on a $215 million credit facility. In addition to newly-arrived Ajay Sawhney acting for many clients on transactions to do with solar power projects, such as Suzlon Energy’s 49% equity sale in a special purpose vehicle to Unisun Energy for Rs135 million, the team regularly executes EPC contracts. L Viswanathan, a leading lawyer, continues to chair the national projects and banking practice.
Financial Services Regulatory
Cyril Shroff, banking and finance market-leading lawyer, leads the financial regulations practice at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Shruti Rajan advised domestic and offshore banks on a number of regulatory matters. For foreign banks, these include India’s anti-money laundering regulatory framework in India, licensing of cross-border transactions and marketing of offshore securities in India.
Insurance
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’s depth in capital markets and M&A assists insurers and reinsurers. Indranath Bishnu, the practice head, and Bharat Budholia advised Dai-chi Life Insurance on its acquisition of an 18% stake in joint venture Star Union Dai-lchi Life Insurance for Rs5.4 billion. Cyril Shroff, Shishir Vayttaden and SR Patnaik had acted for Standard Life as a shareholder in Max Life’s $9.7 billion proposed merger with HDFC Life. After the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India objected to the initial plan, the parties revised their proposal but the marriage talks ended as of late July 2017.
Intellectual Property
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’s team shows capabilities across patent, trade mark and copyright. Referred by Arco Patent Office, a Japanese IP specialist, practice head Ranjan Negi, a leading lawyer, has been representing Kawasaki in disputes before the Trademarks Registry, in addition to taking other trade mark infringement actions, such as executing cease-and-desist letters.
Investment Funds
The team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advises government bodies and private sector funds. Practice joint-heads Cyril Shroff and Shagoofa Khan, and Gokul Rajan advised the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Investment and Public Asset Management on the popular Rs25 billion fund offering under the Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund Scheme. Instructed by JSW Ventures, L Vishwanathan, a banking leading lawyer, Yashojit Mitra and Khan have advised on the subscription of shares OSLabs, a mobile phone operating system.
IT, Telco & Media
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’s broad skills include advising Warburg Pincus on IP and IT law about its $75 million investment in Rivigo Service, a logistics start-up. Arriving from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, Asim Abbas shares leadership of the team with Arun Prabhu and Rahul Goel. Reeba Chacko and Prabhu advised Indian online retailer Flipkart on a strategic partnership with Microsoft, allowing it use Microsoft Azure, the company’s cloud computing platform. Instructed by Samsung India Electronics, Prabhu acted on the launch in India of Samsung Pay, the client’s mobile payment application.
Labour & Employment
Based on its breadth of advice, including workplace privacy and data security, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas enters the highly recommended ranks. Infosys instructed Rashmi Pradeep, co-leader, and Kunal Gupta to investigate claims of financial irregularities made by the former chief financial officer. Pradeep has also assisted on employee matters for medical technology company Becton Dickinson’s joint venture with Apax Partners called Vyaire Medical. The team executed employee transfer documents and appointment letters. Leading lawyer Manishi Pathak assisted Nipro, a Japanese medical equipment company, on a senior manager’s termination.
Private Equity
The influential practice at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas excels across private-equity specialities including dual track process, which combines an initial public offering with an M&A transaction. Practice co-heads Cyril Shroff and Reeba Chacko, and Bharat Budholia and SR Patnaik, have been advising Gland Pharma and KKR, its exiting majority shareholder, on Shanghai Fosun Pharma’s $1.2 billion bid. The parties have set a September 26 2017 deadline for the proposed deal to be agreed. Instructed by a global real asset and infrastructure fund, Shishir Vayttaden acted on a Rs20 billion joint venture to develop residential and mixed-use real estate projects in India. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a Canadian pension fund, has instructed Shroff, Ruetveij Pandya, L Viswanathan and Anshuman Sakle on its $155 million acquisition of Goldman Sachs and KKR’s stakes in TVS Logistics Services.
Projects & Infrastructure
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’s stellar practice can handle important cross-border projects. Instructed by India Ports Global and the Ministry of Shipping, Amey Pathak and Ruchira Shroff advised on a concession agreement between India and Iran for India Ports Global to equip and operate the first phase of the Chabahar Shahid-Beheshti port in Iran. The project allows India to bypass Pakistan, offering domestic traders a more flexible trade route to Afghanistan. Pathak has also acted as lenders’ counsel to a consortium of banks, led by IDBI Bank, on a term loan of up to Rs16.5 billion to be partially used by AE Tollway on a section of National Highway 2 in Uttar Pradesh.
Restructuring & Insolvency
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is a small but capable team in creditor representations and restructurings in the energy and real estate sectors. Nearly 20 banks instructed banking and finance leading lawyer L Viswanathan, a practice co-head, and Sharad Mathkar on Gammon India’s strategic debt restructuring. Amey Pathak, co-leader Joseph Jimmy, Pranay Chandran and Subhojit Sadhu handled a creditor representation matter for a consortium of banks owed $3.6 billion by Essar Group.
Taxation
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is recommended for its M&A transaction, and policy and reform advice. Practice leaders SR Patnaik and Mekhla Anand acted for Essar Oil in its Rs861 billion sale to a consortium led by Rosneft, a Russian oil and gas company. The deal had many complex tax clauses throughout the package of agreements.
