Khaitan & Co advised Mumbai-based pharma company Elder whose domestic formulation business was acquired by Ahmedabad-based drug major Torrent Pharmaceuticals for Rs 2,004 crore ($324m). Torrent was advised by Amarchand Mangaldas.

This is the largest domestic M&A in the pharma sector, according to VC Circle.

Khaitan partners Haigreve Khaitan and Bhavik Narsana with associate partner Mehul Shah, assisted by partners Devidas Banerji, Avaantika Kakkar, Sanjay Sanghvi, Adheesh Nargolkar and Sachin Mandlik, executive director Dinesh Agrawal and associate partner Kumar Saurabh Singh acted for Elder.

Amarchand Mumbai partner Shashikant Bhojani assisted by partners Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Delhi partner Ranjan Negi and Bangalore partner Rashmi Pradeep acted for Torrent.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is going through a big phase of consolidation with many foreign companies looking at inbound acquisitions to increase their reach in India, and big Indian pharma companies looking at both domestic and cross border acquisitions, VC Circle added in its report.