Khaitan & Co advised Bahrain-headquartered telecom service provider Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) in its $174m stake sale in its Indian joint venture STel to Skycity Foundation, which was advised by Rajani Associates.

Three young lawyers have started up a Delhi litigation boutique called KIAA LLP (Knowledge Information Acess Advocates), one-and-a-half years after its founding partner obtained an undergraduate law degree from the law school of Amity University, Noida with two other partners who graduated half a year ago.

Exclusive: FoxMandal Delhi and Little & Co have separated earlier today with Little repaying Fox the original stake purchased in the Bombay solicitors firm when they merged in 2006.

Exclusive: Amarchand and Mangaldas has replaced last year’s project finance leader Luthra & Luthra to secure the top rank among India’s 10 highest cap project deal firms in 2011, according to data provider Dealogic.

Exclusive: Amarchand Mangaldas will launch in Chennai by March with Kochhar & Co Chennai head Dorothy Thomas, followed by re-opening in Ahmedabad with a Pune office pegged for the latter end of this year.

Deals with Dua Associates, AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co, Vichar Partners, Majmudar & Co, J Sagar Associates (JSA) and more…

Exclusive: PXV Law Partners’ founders have agreed to separate, with managing partner Rohit Das and co-founding partner Arindam Pal reverting into the RDA Legal brand name in Mumbai and Kolkata, while the six remaining partners would continue in Delhi and Bangalore under the PXV banner. Both firms intend to restart offices to become national firms again.

Shipping lawyer Harsh Pratap has joined the Mumbai office of Clasis Law as a partner to head up the shipping & international trade division of the firm. Pratap advises Indian and international clients on a variety of fields such as shipping matters, including commercial litigation and arbitrati...

The Madras High Court reserved its judgement yesterday and has begun deliberating on the fate of 31 international law firms and legal process outsourcing (LPO) outfit Integreon, and whether they face a ban of flying into India, after counsel for all sides concluded arguments.

Exclusive: ALMT Legal has promoted four senior associates in Mumbai and Bangalore taking its total global partner strength to 18.

DSK Legal advised Bangalore-based pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab in the sale of its 94 per cent shareholding in its Australian and Southeast Asian subsidiary Ascent Pharmahealth to US- based Watson Pharmaceuticals for A$375m (Rs 1965 crore), alongside Herbert Smith and Australian firms Freehills and Middletons.

Luthra & Luthra has advised Tata Global Beverages on its joint venture with US coffee chain giant Starbucks Corp, which drafted in Amarchand Mangaldas.

Exclusive: “I don’t wish it on my worst enemy, and it’s not just a question of wanting to keep the record for myself,” jokes Andre Jerome about whether he’s ever likely to see a comparable case.

It is surprising that Jerome still has a sense of humour about it - as general counsel (GC) of Vodafone India Services Private Limited, he was literally at the beginning, middle and end of the storm surrounding its four-year court battle with the tax man.

Uncertainty still prevails over whether overseas lawyers can fly into India to advise on foreign law, concluded an animated panel-discussion at the first American Bar Association (ABA) conference in India held last week at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai.

Juris Corp Mumbai partner Vandana Sekhri has resigned from the firm, effective 31 January, to pursue other opportunities.

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) company CPA Global, which specialises in patents work, has been acquired by private equity major Cinven, according to a press release by the fund.

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Gurgaon-based cloud telephony solutions provider Knowlarity Communications on a Rs 34 crore ($6.6m) investment it received from California-based Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital, which was advised by Luthra & Luthra.

Exclusive: AZB & Partners Delhi office advised NBFC Religare Finvest in which private equity firm NYLIM Jacob Ballas purchased a Rs 200 crore ($39.8m) stake, which was advised by S&R Associates.

Exclusive: Desai & Diwanji advised private equity house Olympus Capital Asia Investments in its purchase of over Rs 500 crore ($100m) in DM Healthcare, which was advised by Universal Legal’s Chennai office, with the exiting investors India Value Fund represented by DSK Legal.

“)Mint exclusive: India’s corporate law firms advised on fewer and smaller mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the 2011 calendar year than in 2010, which affected revenues but still kept firms such as AZB & Partners, Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Desai & Diwanji busy with a lion’s share of work.