Indian Law Firm Awards - India Business Law Journal

Indian Law Firm Awards
Bain Capital India. “It is amongst a very small group of
firms that we would go to for any legal matter. AZB is truly
building a strong multi-layer firm. Its strength is that it does
not just rely on one or two stars. We have had great experiences
with managing partners, as well as the second and
third line.”
In addition to winning the award for law firm of the year,
AZB & Partners receives awards for banking and finance;
capital markets; construction and real estate; corporate
and commercial; energy, projects and infrastructure;
mergers and acquisitions; policy and regulation; private
equity and venture capital; privatization and disinvestment;
structured finance and securitization; taxation; technology,
media and telecommunications; and best overall law
firms.
Best overall law firms
Joining AZB & Partners on the winners’ table for best
overall law firms are Amarchand Mangaldas, J Sagar
Associates, Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra and Trilegal. It
was a comfortable victory for all six firms, which picked up
an award in this category for the fourth consecutive year.
Amarchand Mangaldas, a consistent all-rounder with a
rock-hard reputation in India and globally, performed well
in almost every category. Last year, it advised ICICI Bank
on its US$5 billion global medium-term note programme,
State Bank of India on its €750 million (US$1 billion) euro
bond issue and Piramal Healthcare on its purchase of
a stake in Vodafone Essar. It also advised Reliance Life
Insurance on the sale of a 26% stake to Japan’s Nippon
Life Insurance for US$680 million.
While Amarchand and AZB are far ahead of their competitors
in most categories, the votes indicate they enjoy
a huge lead in four areas: banking and finance; corporate
and commercial; mergers and acquisitions; and private
equity and venture capital.
Amarchand’s other awards are for capital markets; competition
and antitrust; dispute resolution; energy, projects
and infrastructure; policy and regulation; privatization and
disinvestment; restructuring and insolvency; and structured
finance and securitization.
In December, Amarchand appointed Anshuman Jaiswal
and Siddhartha Dutta as resident partners of its Hyderabad
and Kolkata offices.
Just down from the top two is the mighty Luthra &
Luthra, which seized important roles on some billion-dollar
deals last year. It was selected to advise Alstom Bharat
Forge Power on a US$1.2 billion project financing for its
joint venture companies. In addition, partners Madhurima
Mukherjee and Deepak THM guided Malaysian oil and gas
explorer Petronas on the sale of its stake in Cairn India to
Sesa Goa for US$2.1 billion. Its role as one of the domestic
advisers to Monsanto in the company’s dispute with
Nuziveedu Seeds over the parent variety of hybrids of cotton
was a boost for the firm’s disputes practice.
Luthra & Luthra wins awards in the following 10 practice
areas: aviation; banking and finance; capital markets;
competition and antitrust; construction and real estate;
corporate and commercial; energy, projects and infrastructure;
insurance and reinsurance; policy and regulation; and
privatization and disinvestment. This 288-lawyer firm has
ramped up its document and information management
systems and recently introduced a unified system to manage
all administrative and billing related functions.
February 2012
Intelligence report
J Sagar Associates scoops up awards in nine practice
areas. The firm’s standout roles include advising the Indian
promoters of Hero Honda Motors on their acquisition of
Honda Motor’s stake in Hero Honda for roughly `38 billion
(US$800 million) and advising Hero Investments in relation
to a `35 billion private equity investment in Hero Honda. It
also advised the eldest Patni brother in iGate’s acquisition
of a majority stake in Patni Computers.
J Sagar Associates counts among its clients PepsiCo
India, spice manufacturer McCormick, Tata Power and
North Delhi Power, and Walt Disney. Gopal Saxena, CEO
at BSES Rajdhani Power, enthuses: “For the past 10 years
that we have dealt with JSA, the experience in terms of
the quality of work, input, advice, and handling of complex
matters involving techno-economic and regulatory
aspects, has been excellent and unparalleled as compared
to other firms who are in the top bracket.”
In addition to best overall law firms, J Sagar Associates
wins awards for banking and finance; capital markets;
competition and antitrust; corporate and commercial;
mergers and acquisitions; policy and regulation; private
equity and venture capital; privatization and disinvestment;
and structured finance and securitization. This 234-lawyer
firm marked its 20th anniversary in November.
Trilegal, which has steadily matured into one of India’s
finest law firms, takes awards in seven practice areas.
Last year, partners Anand Prasad and Christopher
Krishnamoorthy advised International Paper, a global
paper and packaging company, in its US$423 million purchase
of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills – the Indian paper
industry’s biggest acquisition to date.
Trilegal’s track record and finesse in the areas of infrastructure
and banking earned it important roles on several
India Business Law Journal Deals of the Year. The firm was a
key adviser to Standard Chartered Bank, the lead arranger,
in Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone’s acquisition
of Abott Point Terminal and was also chosen to represent
the lenders, including ICICI Bank, to facilitate Lanco
Infratech’s acquisition of Griffin Coal Mining Company –
one of the biggest investments by an Indian company in
Australia. Trilegal partner Nishant Parikh, senior associate
Rohan Ghosh Roy and associate Anirudh Agarwala acted
for Sithe Global Power on its US$261 million investment
in SKS Ispat and Power’s 1,200-megawatt power plant in
Chattisgarh.
Khaitan [& Co] has emerged as
a formidable force in the
Indian legal market
Srinivas Kaushik
Partner
Kirkland & Ellis
India Business Law Journal 35