Amarchand Mangaldas replaced AZB & Partners as Q1 2014’s front runner in reporting the maximum number of M&As, as AZB outranked other Indian firms in closing the biggest reported deals this quarter, according to rankings released today by mergermarket.
Amarchand reported two deals more than AZB’s five deals this calendar year’s first quarter. Luthra & Luthra and J Sagar Associates (JSA), with six deals each, were also in the lead.
Deal sizes grew and volumes shrunk, compared to last year. Barring Platinum Partners’ $1.6bn Strides Arcolab deal last year, which had put it in a considerable lead last year, AZB had led the rest of the Indian league with a total deal value of $510m. AZB’s deal values more than doubled this year’s first quarter to $1,031m.
Value wise
M&A in India’s first quarter totalled $3.5bn in Q1 2014, which is less than the Q1 2013 value that was only $3.7bn, according to mergermarket’s analysis, but excludes two huge deals that were announced just around the end of 2014 first quarter: Vodafone’s $1.4bn buy-out of stake in Piramal which S&R Associates and AZB led on, and Sun Pharma’s $4bn buyout of Ranbaxy closed by Amarchand, Crawford and Luthra, will likely skew the rankings significantly next quarter and set a new record.
Without those two giant deals included, Amarchand’s total deal value slipped to $380m, almost one-third of AZB’s $1,031m, and the lowest amongst nine Indian firms docketing triple-digit values.
Trilegal, Luthra, Vaish, Khaitan & Co, Crawford Bayley & Co, Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) and JSA lined up before Amarchand’s rank 9 on the value table.
Amarchand, AZB, Trilegal and Vaish Associates starred in the biggest reported deal closed this Q1 - possibly India’s biggest ever FDI in the power sector – the $616m sale of Karcham Wangtoo power plant by Jaiprakash Associates to TAQA.
Also bagging the $140m Tesco-Trent JV opposite AZB, Trilegal landed at second spot in the value league with two deals worth $755m.
Volume wise
Luthra dove back into the table, at second spot, after its absence from the league in Q1 2013. It showed an improvement of five deals over its one reported deal in 2012 – the last time it was present on the Q1 table.
JSA, tied with Luthra with six deals, improved its performance by 50 per cent since last Q1.
A total of 57 total deals in Q1 2014 was a slump against the figure in the previous quarter in a run up to the general elections.
Further reading
- M&A League Table Q1 2013
- M&a league table full year 2013
- Legal league tables explained: How to perform and excel in the vicious / virtuous circus
Domestic firms: By value
| Rank | Firm | Value (US$m) | Deal Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AZB & Partners | 1,031 | 5 |
| 2 | Trilegal | 755 | 2 |
| 3 | Luthra & Luthra | 729 | 6 |
| 4 | Vaish Associates | 632 | 2 |
| 5 | Khaitan & Co | 574 | 4 |
| 6= | Crawford Bayley & Co | 496 | 1 |
| 6= | Nishith Desai Associates | 496 | 1 |
| 8 | J Sagar Associates | 395 | 6 |
| 9 | Amarchand Mangaldas | 380 | 7 |
| 10 | Tatva Legal | 37 | 3 |
| 11 | K Law | 29 | 1 |
| 12= | DSK Legal | 18 | 2 |
| 12= | BMR Legal | 18 | 1 |
| 14= | Indus Law | 16 | 1 |
| 14= | Wadia Ghandy & Co | 16 | 1 |
Source: mergermarket
Foreign firms: By value
| Firm | Value US$ | Deal count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veirano Advogados | 496 | 1 |
| 2 | Herbert Smith Freehills | 363 | 2 |
| 3= | Bryan Cave | 358 | 1 |
| 3= | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 358 | 1 |
| 5 | Allen & Overy | 314 | 1 |
| 6 | Shearman & Sterling | 260 | 1 |
| 7 | DLA Piper | 69 | 3 |
| 8= | Latham & Watkins | 30 | 1 |
| 8= | Loyens & Loeff | 30 | 1 |
| 8= | O’Melveny & Myers | 30 | 1 |
Source: mergermarket
Domestic firms: by volume
| Firm | Value US$ | Deal count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amarchand Mangaldas | 380 | 7 |
| 2 | Luthra & Luthra | 729 | 6 |
| 3 | J Sagar Associates | 395 | 6 |
| 4 | AZB & Partners | 1,031 | 5 |
| 5 | Khaitan & Co | 574 | 4 |
| 6 | DLA Piper | 69 | 3 |
| 7 | Tatva Legal | 37 | 3 |
| 8 | Trilegal | 755 | 2 |
| 9 | Vaish Associates | 632 | 2 |
| 11 | DSK Legal | 18 | 2 |
| 12 | HSA Advocates | 0 | 2 |
| 13= | Crawford Bayley & Co | 496 | 1 |
| 13= | Nishith Desai Associates | 496 | 1 |
| 23 | K Law | 29 | 1 |
| 24 | BMR Legal | 18 | 1 |
| 25= | Indus Law | 16 | 1 |
| 25= | Wadia Ghandy & Co | 16 | 1 |
Source: mergermarket
Comments
So, I guess 'Piramal is SnR, AZB 'AND' AMSS' should have been appropriate.
[quote name="Lambretta"]http://www.legallyindia.com/201404114598/Corporate-/-MA/rs-10-000-cr-amarchand-s-r-reprise-roles-to-sell-off-rest-of-vodafone-with-azb-from-piramal-analjit
So, I guess 'Piramal is SnR, AZB 'AND' AMSS' should have been appropriate.[/quote]
Who is this third senior partner??
There are some notable exceptions to this trend amongst law firms for one or two "promoter" partners. Most notably, JSA since Jyoti Sagar's retirement, but also other firms such as TTA and Trilegal.
There are some notable exceptions to this trend amongst law firms for one or two "promoter" partners. Most notably, JSA since Jyoti Sagar's retirement, but also other firms such as TTA and Trilegal.[/quote]
Shows how little you actually know about Trilegal - only the 5 founders matter there, even the other equities don't (atleast certainly not in Delhi and Bangalore anyway).
@ Kian please let us know if you have any intelligence on whether the Luthra figures are exceptionally high compared to its own figures last couple of times because of their initiative to disclose the deals this time that they have been doing or have they generally done well this time round?
Either they have improved a lot or were always doing the deals and not disclosing!!
@ Kian please let us know if you have any intelligence on whether the Luthra figures are exceptionally high compared to its own figures last couple of times because of their initiative to disclose the deals this time that they have been doing or have they generally done well this time round?
Either they have improved a lot or were always doing the deals and not disclosing!![/quote]
If i'm not wrong, it's that one. Then again, the deal value doesn't seem to match.
HSA has an M&A practice?
Since the recruitment season is on and firms' business, including that of Luthra and Trilegal has increased substantially, can you do a story on whether such increase in firms' profits will also result in an increase in salary of freshers and inducted ones?
http://barandbench.com/content/212/mergermarket-ma-league-tables-sr-tops-value-followed-azb-and-trilegal-amarchand-luthra#.U05ATlWSxA0
According to this report, S&R is at the top slot (in terms of value) and not AZB. Please clarify.
We asked mergermarket for clarification and customised figures after the initial report was out, and they sent us a revised version.
The problem with the version with S&R on top, is that it included part of the Vodafone deal, which was not yet formally announced, and excludes a bunch of law firms that were actually also acting on the deal alongside S&R, since those firms hadn't sent out releases or statements yet or hadn't been reported as acting on the deal.
Once the deal was formally announced by the company (around 10 April or so), mergermarket, according to its own rules, will be counting the deal as happening in Q2 and not Q1, with an effective date for the entire transaction of 10 April (or whatever it was).
So yes, by Q2 the rankings will change quite significantly, as we pointed out above, but the figures in the earlier version of the report with S&R on top are a bit misleading...
http://www.mergermarket.com/pdf/MergermarketTrendReport.Q12014.India.pdf
Now you decide what's correct.
Here's what a mergermarket spokesperson told us:
[quote]"For the Vodafone Piramal deal, we included it for Q1 league table when there is no formal announcement. However on 10 April 2014, Piramal announced the actual definitive agreement date that’s why we’ve updated the deal to reflect its actual timing of transaction.
"Please use the [data now published by LI] since all data is updated till 11 April 2014, while our India release [the PDF link above] is updated till 7 April 2014."[/quote]
Hope that explains things - the data we've used is the more accurate of the two (particularly since only S&R was given credit for Piramal in the 7 April league table, but none of the other firms).
They have been in the news for a while. (example: SBI)