DSK Legal

DSK Legal’s construction and real estate group is led by Anand Desai and Sajit Suvarna. Suvarna and Sagar Kadam have advised Piramal Fund Management on several real estate transactions. The practice also advised SPREP, a joint venture between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Indian developer Shapoorji Pallonji Group, on its $220 million acquisition of SP Infocity, an IT park in Chennai. A client commends the practice’s “thorough technical knowledge and perfect understand[ing] of the land laws”.

Among DSK Legal’s transactions, Anand Desai and Niraj Kumar advised Strides Shasun when it entered into a binding agreement with several affiliates of US health care company Johnson & Johnson to acquire seven of their brands.  The transaction, completed in February 2016, also involved other commercial arrangements with Johnson & Johnson. A long-term client says the practice delivers “quick and professional response[s] to our queries [and] proper guidance and assistance to us in various matters”.

DSK Legal’s Anand Desai, who is “the best legal mind in India”, according to a client, and Nirav Shah have been advising and assisting Rahul Narang, a majority shareholder of Narang Danone Access. Representation has stretched from the Bombay High Court to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

DSK Legal puts the IP and IT teams in the same group. The IT team advises on technology transfer, biotechnology and informatics, and e-commerce. The practice is also increasingly managing corporate and commercial advice for Indian mobile commerce companies. Anand Desai and Chandrima Mitra advised Salman Khan Ventures on the distribution, marketing, and promotion of drama feature film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, one of India’s highest grossing movies at the box office in 2015.

Anand Desai leads the private equity practice of DSK Legal. Satish Kishanchandani and Hemang Parekh advised Aditya Birla Trustee, the sole trustee of the Aditya Birla Private Equity Sunrise Fund, with its investment in Creative Lifestyles, maker and seller of women’s apparel under the brands 109F, Fusion Beats and O2xygen. Kishanchandani, Narendra Dingankar and Parekh also advised Indium V with its Rs4 billion investment in Kids Clinic India. A client respects the firm for its “domain knowledge, negotiation [and] drafting skills”.