Anti Trust and Competition

Representative Matters

• Deals of the Year Award for the following two deals by India Business Law Journal- Deal of the Year Award for Capgemini’ s acquisition of iGATE by India Business Law Journal. Behavioural Matter of the Year for Overturning CCI cement cartel decision by GCR Awards (Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa). Deal of the Year Award for Bayer / Monsanto deal by GCR (Global). Deals of the Year Award for the following two deals by India Business Law Journal- Deal of the Year Award for Capgemini’ s acquisition of iGATE by India Business Law Journal. Behavioural Matter of the Year for Overturning CCI cement cartel decision by GCR Awards (Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa). Deal of the Year Award for Bayer / Monsanto deal by GCR (Global).
• Mr. G.R. Bhatia, Partner, Competition Law was a member of the National Competition Policy Committee, which was responsible for developing the National Competition Policy. The Committee also worked on amendments to The Competition Act, 2002.
• In March 2011, the CCI published draft Combination Regulations. Here again, the Firm was called to advise the CCI on various nuances of combination (merger) control. As part of the Law Firm Working Group, Mr. Bhatia worked along with the CCI to put in place a balanced regime meeting the requirements of the trade/industry and that of the Competition regulator.
• In 2017, Mr. Bhatia assisted the CCI in making amendments to the Competition Commission of India (Lesser Penalty) Regulations 2011.
• In 2018, Mr. Bhatia was also member of the International Competition Network (ICN) working group and ably assisted the CCI in preparing a comprehensive report on ‘Cartel Enforcement and Competition’.
• As part of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Cartel Working Group, the Firm provided valuable inputs on the draft of Joint Bidding Guidelines issued by the Peruvian Competition Authority (Indecopi).
• The Firm provided comments on the International Competition Network (ICN) Report on the Analysis of Theories of Harm in Digital Markets.
• Successfully represented Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association before the NCLAT and assisted in overturning a penalty of INR 1789 Crore.
• Successfully defended more than 30 Kraft paper manufacturers and their associations in a cartel case before the CCI and ensured that no penalty is imposed upon them.
• Secured approval for Bayer on its acquisition of Monsanto, which was arguably the most complex transaction that the CCI may have dealt with, requiring an in-depth analysis, which lasted over a year, and resulted in the vast set of remedies given the extensive overlaps.
• Secured unconditional approval for JSW Steel on its USD 2.7 Billion acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited, in a record 26 days for a Form-II filing.
• Secured unconditional approval for ArcelorMittal’ s USD 6 Billion bid for Essar Steel, which was one of the most contentious insolvency matters.
• Represented GMR Airports in the first significant notifiable sale transaction in the airports’ sector where entities within the Tata Group, GIC Singapore, SSG Group collectively acquired a controlling interest in a deal valued over INR 8,000 Crore.
• Successfully represented the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) before the CCI, which compelled the Government of Haryana to enact policy changes in favour of real-estate developers in 2018, and saved developers USD 56 Million as development charges.

Conduct Related Practice

• Represented DLF Limited, one of the leading real estate developers in India before the Supreme Court on matters pertaining to abuse of dominance.
• Represented the Indian Steel Association and one of the largest integrated steel manufacturers in a cartel investigation before the CCI.
• Represented Zomato Limited in respect of allegations raised by the National Restaurant Association of India that Zomato Limited is a dominant entity abusing its position and forcing restaurants to enter into anti-competitive vertical agreements.
• Represented Google Asia Pacific before the CCI in respect of the integration of Google Meet with Gmail, wherein, it was alleged that Google leveraged its dominance in the market in an anti-competitive manner.
• Represented GMR in a proceeding initiated by Air Works India Private Limited (Air Works) alleging abusive practices against GMR, before the CCI.
• Successfully represented Flipkart – one of India’s leading e-Commerce organizations with respect to competition complaints relating to online sales.
• Successfully defended the Steel Authority of India Limited, in an enquiry before the CCI and then the Appellate Tribunal on issues relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance.
• Represented Jet Airways before the CCI in respect of competition concerns emanating from dynamic pricing of airline tickets.
• Represented Lufthansa in an inquiry before the CCI on matters pertaining to the adoption of a zero-commission policy by airline operators.
• Successfully represented Unitech Limited in a matter pertaining to cartelization in the real estate sector.
• Successfully represented FICCI before the CCI in the first ever case to be filed under the Act.
• Successfully represented Gulf Oil Corporation Limited before the Appellate Tribunal and procured a 90% reduction in penalty.
• Successfully represented Mankind Pharma before the CCI in reporting repeated offences by the druggists’ associations.

Merger Control Practice

• Obtained several approvals for combinations for various clients in sectors such as banking, automotive, real estate, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, steel, telecommunication infrastructure etc., including:
• Bayer AG’s acquisition of Monsanto Inc.
• ArcelorMittal’s acquisition of Essar Steel India Limited.
• IHH’s acquisition of Fortis Healthcare.
• JSW Steel’s acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited.

Power Finance Corporation’s acquisition of Rural Electrification Corporation

• Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals Corporation’s acquisition of Sanyo Special Steel Co. Ltd.
• NTT Data’s acquisition of certain businesses of Dell Inc.
• Capgemini’s acquisition of iGATE.
• Zomato Limited‘s acquisition of UberEats’ India business.
• Advised several private equity funds and investors on various aspects of acquisitions from the perspective of competition law.
• The Firm regularly undertakes anti-trust due diligence in respect of mergers and acquisitions and defends various clients in gun- jumping proceedings before the CCI.
• Compliance Counselling & Training Programs including Dawn Raid Training

Compliance Counselling & Training Programs including Dawn

Raid Training

Compliance Counselling & Training Programs including Dawn

Raid Training

• The Firm has been involved in complete anti-trust due diligence from a competition compliance perspective, i.e., review of all agreements/ contracts, preparation of do’s and don’ts, a customized industry-specific compliance manual for the employees of the organization, presentations for the entire organization including formulation of online training programs.
• The Firm provides dawn raid training to various organizations after having been part of the first dawn raid in India. “They provide good analytical reasoning.”- Chambers & Partners