Overview

Akshit Kapoor has extensive experience in areas of real estate laws, mergers & acquisitions, private client and family office practice, banking and finance, capital markets, PE investments, insolvency and bankruptcy and corporate restructuring.

Akshit has represented and advised both Indian and International clients on general corporate matters, M&A, joint ventures and commercial contracts across various business sectors like health care, automobile, telecom, consumer goods sector etc.

He has closely collaborated with a wide range of international and domestic corporations, advising them on their business operations in both India and abroad. As being part of the Firm’s real estate practice, he has advised some of the largest real estate companies in India and has been involved in advising numerous international clients for their projects in India.

Akshit has represented and advised HNIs and HNFs, business owners, family offices, corporate fiduciaries as well as charitable and not for profit entities on restructuring, creation of trusts and wills, migration of residency and change in citizenship.

Akshit has advised on private placements and public offerings by issuers across a wide range of industries. He also regularly advises companies for their Initial Public Offerings (IPO) as well as on Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).

Akshit possesses a profound grasp of the intricate commercial and legal intricacies surrounding land ownership, land acquisition, land use and conversion, regulatory and approval matters, foreign investments, and more.

As part of the Firm’s insolvency and bankruptcy practice, Akshit has gone on to advise clients on exit strategies, refinancing, debt restructuring, distressed sale etc. Akshit specializes in representing distressed funds, bidders’/resolution applicants, lenders / Committee of Creditors, and insolvency professionals in the context of restructurings, insolvency resolution processes, and liquidations governed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Overview

Girish Rawat is a qualified lawyer and company secretary with over 18 years of experience. Girish has been involved in numerous complex and high-profile transactions and advises across several sectors, including real estate, projects, infrastructure, hospitality, technology, manufacturing among others.

Girish focuses on banking, finance and restructuring, including structured finance, cross border lending, hybrid debt financing, project finance, acquisition finance, real estate finance as well as restructuring and security enforcement assignments, and the corporate insolvency resolution process.

He actively advises clients on various investment and financing transactions, including bond/ debt securities, both listed and unlisted, buyback of listed securities. He also advises clients on their investment and disinvestment strategies as well as takeover of the listed companies.

Experience Statement

• Acted for and advised State Bank of India in a financing transaction aggregating up to INR 4.36 Billion sanctioned to Solarcraft Power India 21 Private Limited (a SPV of BluPine Energy) for its 120 MW solar project at Panshina and Radhanpur District in the State of Gujarat, India.
• Acted for and advised HDFC Bank in connection with financial assistance of INR 4180 Million granted to a SPV of Blupine Energy for its 120 MW solar project in Sadla, Gujarat.
• Acted for and advised Assam Bio-Refinery Private Limited (a joint venture between Numaligarh Refinery Limited, Fortum 3 B.V., Netherlands and Chempolis OY, Finland) on successfully raising term loan of INR 3037.50 Crore from Power Finance Corporation Limited for its Bio- Refinery plant for 2G Bioethanol production and other products in Numaligarh, Assam.
• Advised Landmark Infracon Private Limited on acquiring land parcel of 39.0083 acres, situated in the revenue estate of Village Rajokri, Sub-Division, Vasant Vihar, District Northwest, Delhi.
• Acted as the sole legal counsel to the public issue of tax free bonds in the nature of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures aggregating to INR 5,000 Crore by Housing and Urban Development Company Limited.

Overview

Harry Chawla has extensive experience in the areas of Banking & Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Real Estate. Harry has advised clients in the banking and financial services sector, real estate sector as well as the hospitality, health care, automobile, aviation, telecom, IT, ITES, consumer goods sectors.

He has represented some of the largest players in the Indian real estate market, including several Indian companies as well as foreign investors. He has also assisted the Government of India as well as State Government(s) in the drafting of legislations in this sector.

Harry has worked closely with a large number of international and domestic corporations with respect to their business in India and abroad, in the areas of general commercial advice, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, corporate restructuring, joint ventures, fund raising and commercial contracts, etc.

He has advised and represented clients on issues pertaining to corporate finance (both domestic and cross border), debt restructuring and refinancing, securitization, acquisition finance, structured finance, bonds and similar instruments. He has acted for both lenders and borrowers and been involved in complex transactions involving multiple lenders across jurisdictions.

He has also participated in the evolution and formulation process of business strategies with several clients, vis-à-vis their new ventures and business initiatives and has advised in establishing, operationalizing and implementing such business strategies of the clients. He has also advised several clients on strategizing in dispute resolution, negotiation and settlement etc.

Overview

Maureen Z. Ralte is a Partner in the M&A and Corporate Practice of the Firm. She has over 15 years’ experience in mergers & acquisitions, private equity, real estate and general corporate advisory. She has worked on a wide variety of corporate transactions across sectors including real estate, hospitality, automobile, renewable energy, banking & finance, tourism, entertainment, marketing, information technology, etc.

She has represented domestic and multinational companies in the negotiation, structuring, preparation and review of transaction documents, in the areas of general commercial advice, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, corporate restructuring, insolvency, joint ventures/ collaborations, fund raising and commercial contracts. She has advised clients on issues relating to general corporate compliances, corporate governance issues, real estate and exchange control laws.

Maureen has worked closely with the in-house departments of leading corporate houses and routinely advises them on complex legal issues.

Overview

Ritu Bhalla is a Partner in the dispute resolution practice of the Firm. In her career spanning over 3 decades, she has gained extensive experience in corporate commercial disputes, arbitration matters and specialises in litigation and dispute resolution in areas such as banking & finance, insolvency, regulatory, infrastructure, administrative, white-collar, etc.

She has represented both Indian and multinational clients in various fora including Supreme Court, High Courts, NCLAT, NCLT, DRAT, DRT, quasi-judicial tribunals, domestic and international commercial arbitrations, and has also led teams in undertaking investigations and legal forensic assignments.

She has handled high stake matters and has represented clients in several commercial arbitration matters, successfully obtaining favourable awards for her clients. Ritu has also advised clients on critical litigation strategies.

Sharad has over 16 years of diverse and rich experience as a legal professional in Banking & Finance, Projects, Infrastructure advisory and General Corporate matters.

Sharad has handled complex transactions in Banking & Finance matters which include project finance, lease rental discounting matters, external commercial borrowings, onshore syndication, consortium transactions, structured financing, securitizations, factoring, ISDA, debenture issuances, and real estate financing.

Sharad regularly represents various lenders and companies and is also involved in providing opinions and advisories on various banking and corporate laws. In addition, he has significant experience in drafting EPC, O&M, FIDIC based construction contracts, and other allied contracts for various infrastructure projects.

Sharad has also successfully negotiated and closed M&A transactions for various infrastructure projects.

Experience Statement

• Acted and advised a multinational bank in relation to an external commercial borrowing transaction, with a green shoe option, extended to IIFL Finance.

• Acted as legal counsel to State Bank of India (SBI)-
  • in relation to fund based and non-fund-based facilities granted to Myrayash Hotels Pvt. Ltd. for construction and development of a 5-star hotel awarded by Goa Tourism Development through a concession agreement.
  • in relation to a term loan facility to part finance a project awarded to an operator entity through a supply – cum – operation and maintenance agreement for procurement of electric buses and the construction, operation and maintenance of depots, awarded by Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport.
• Represented a listed FMCG entity in relation to acquisition of non-food-based business of another entity on a slump sale basis.

• Advised on a securitization transaction involving NeoGrowth Credit Pvt. Ltd. (as Issuer) and Goldmansachs (India) Finance Pvt. Ltd. (as PTC Investor).

Overview

Sudipta’s career spans over 25 years, in diverse settings. He started as an in-house, transitioned to private practice, acquired foreign qualifications, moved to international English Law practice, founded his own firm, and then merged his practice with a top-tier firm.

Sudipta’s practice is presently focused on Cross-border M&A, Banking & Finance, Corporate Advisory, Fund Formation, and Insolvency & Restructuring.

Over the last 25 years, Sudipta has cherished a lead role in high value “pink paper” transactions and business development. In recent years, it has been more the deals that he has managed to stop, restructure/ re-strategize that have added greater value to clientele. His practice has evolved from transactional, to strategic counselling, consensus building and operating as a close confidante - to business leaders, boards, promoters, and entrepreneurs.

He is quoted often and published regularly and speaks frequently in national and international forums and on television talk shows.

Varun has more than 9 years of experience in handling banking, finance and restructuring, hybrid debt financing, project finance, acquisition finance, real estate finance and collaborating with clients, identifying their needs and recommending services and solutions to secure their interest.

Varun has experience of working with top financial institutions including Power Finance Corporation Limited, PTC India Financial Services Limited, L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited, L&T Housing Finance Limited, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited, IndusInd Bank Limited, Tata Capital Limited, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited, REC Limited, HDFC Bank Limited, India Infradebt Limited, State Bank of India, Axis Bank Limited, Saraswat Cooperative Bank Limited, RBL Bank Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, IndusInd Bank Limited, Kautilya Finance Limited, Swamih Investment Fund 1- SBICAP Ventures Limited, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited, Aseem Infrastructure Private Limited and Aditya Birla Finance Limited as their legal counsel in several project finance and structured finance transactions.

Experience Statement

• Acted for and advised and acted for consortium of lenders including IndusInd Bank Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited, Axis Bank Limited and National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, in connection with financial assistance sanctioned to Oriental Infra Trust aggregating up to INR 45483 Million.
• Acted for and advised Power Finance Corporation Limited in connection with financial assistance sanctioned to the 4 (four) SPVs of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited, aggregating up to INR 11560.20 Million for the purpose of partly financing the project cost for setting up sea water desalination plants at 4 (four) different locations in the state of Gujarat.
• Advised OLA Cell Technologies Private Limited, in relation to the financial assistance availed from State Bank of India aggregating up to INR 19100 Million in connection with 5 GWh (gross 5.9 GWh) green-field Gigafactory Project for manufacturing Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery for electrical vehicles, situated at Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, India.
• Acted for and advised REC Limited, in connection with non-fund based project specific financial assistance aggregating up to INR 25000 Million sanctioned to Suzlon Energy Limited, acting as an EPC Contractor for supply of wind turbine generators for wind power project(s) awarded to multiple renewable power project developers.
• Acted for and advised HDFC Bank Limited, in connection with financial assistance aggregating up to INR 4180 Million sanctioned to Solarcraft Power India 9 Private Limited, for implementation and development of 120 MWac solar power project and related infrastructure being set-up at Sadla district in the State of Gujarat, India. 

Overview

Varun comes with over a decade of experience in M&A, private equity and general corporate advisory. Varun’s involvement in various transactions help both the investors as well as the target company navigate a very uncertain regulatory environment and close large investment rounds. He has played instrumental role in bringing clarity on certain grey areas of the regulatory framework, for instance, surrounding restructuring of such ECB Loans. His insights and legal advisory on transactions in relation to private acquisitions of assets during ongoing insolvency of the asset owner’s group companies has been incredible. Varun’s approach towards solving client’s problem is one of his strongest forte. He brings solution-oriented mind set to the table, helping client navigate the transactions in the most reasonable and timely manner and simultaneously creating space for his team to learn, adapt and grow into an even better professional

Experience Statement

• Advised IFFCO and reviewed financing documentations and corresponding amendments thereto, arising out of the restructuring of the credit facilities amounting to USD 850 Million availed of by IFFCO’s foreign subsidiary i.e. Jordan India Fertilizer Company.
• Advised a leading real estate company on the resolution and eventual acquisition of a landowning company owning 110 Acres of land valued at over USD 140.5 Million under the pre-packaged insolvency regime.
• Advised M3M India Private Limited (M3M) on INR 900 Crore debt infusion by Oaktree Capital through subscription to NCDs.
• Advised Apollo Hospitals in its INR 450 Crore hospital asset acquisition in Gurugram, Haryana.
• Advised by Kunshan Q Tech Microelectronics (India) Private (QTech) Limited on USD 20 Million external commercial borrowings (ECB).