Luthra, Khaitan, Wadia Ghandy on Edelweiss $39m buy of Religare securities business [UPDATE-1]

Wednesday, 17 January 2018 By Rukmini Biswas Corporate M&A

The wealth management unit of India’s Edelweiss Group have announced the acquisition of Religare Enterprises’s retail broking business for Rs 250 crores (approximately $39m) by way of slump sale, as reported by The Economic Times and Mint. The acquisition by Edelweiss Wealth Management will include Religare’s securities and commodities broking services, as well as the depository participant services.

Update 19 January 2018: Luthra & Luthra has confirmed that it has acted for Religare Securities. We have also enquired about team composition and Wadia Ghandy’s role.

Khaitan & Co advised Edelweiss Financial Services led by partner Nikhilesh Panchal, principal associate Malav Shah accompanied by associates Manish Chhangani, Aman Yagnik, Tanish Gupta, Ashima Gulati, Murugaveni Pillai and Prakhar Maheshwari.

Wadia Ghandy acted for Religare Securities and Religare Commodities in the transaction.

The deal is subject to receipt of requisite regulatory clearances and fulfilment of certain terms and conditions and is expected to be completed by 15 March 2018. Edelweiss Wealth Management is one of India’s leading diversified financial services companies and had earlier acquired Rooshnil Securities in 2001 and Anagram Capital in 2010. The current acquisition is expected to help Edelweiss expand its geographical reach and distribution footprint, almost trebling their client base.

2017-12-20

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Comments

Truth be told 17 Jan 2018, 08:40

+38 -2

I have noticed a trend with Khaitan over the last two years. Have minimal role in a deal and then go to town with the first press release on the deal. Has worked very well for them - but unfortunately they got caught this time. Kian if you truly are unbiased, then publish this unedited - KCo did NOT represent Edelweiss. Their role was limited to preparating a due diligence report! A report [...] got shelved and CAM did the diligence. Wadia represented Edelweiss and Luthra represented Religare. If this is how Khaitan has been climbing the league tables - it’s a sad commentary on Khaitan and on the league tables themselves.

Unbiased 18 Jan 2018, 20:04

+12 -2

Luthra team is representing Religare, Wadia and KCO are representing Edelweiss. KCO has a limited role in preparing the DD report and is no where near the deal room. The guys in the deal room are Luthra and Wadia. Know this for sure. In fact, the clients were also surprised to this crazy reporting.

kianganz 18 Jan 2018, 20:06

+0 -0

Thanks for sharing - would be great if someone from Luthra on the deal could send a short email to me confirming this and we will be happy to add it to the report.

Now now 19 Jan 2018, 07:00

+5 -1

You know that will not happen Kian - Luthra will not interact with Legallyindia. Which is what got me thinking - the fact that Luthra and you don’t talk is so well publically known - did Khaitan try to take advantage of that? Did they think that they can brazen it out - so much so that they forgot who was actually representing their “client” and instead made the phenomenal mistake of calling Wadia as counsel for Edelweiss?? I mean that is beyond dpubt proof of how limited the role of Khaitan is - they don’t even know who is representing who!!

kianganz 19 Jan 2018, 07:10

+2 -2

Hmm, I doubt it is intentional... it is also possible that Luthra's role on the deal was limited, or maybe acted in the background via Religare's legal function, and Khaitan therefore didn't interact with them?

Am double checking with Khaitan, in any case - do you know who the lead partner at Luthra on this was, by any chance?

... 21 Jan 2018, 16:08

+4 -4

Luthra is in no position to do ANYTHING. Reports of empty coffers are abuzz. MAs and partners have received neither increments nor arrears because "certain teams" haven't billed/ recovered their fees. Its over for them,
it seems. [img]https://media3.giphy.com/media/l1J9u3TZfpmeDLkD6/200.gif[/img]

Unbiased KCOThis 22 Jan 2018, 17:12

+1 -0

This comes from incompetent ignorant fools. Its never over for the likes of AZB, CAM, SAM, Luthra, Khaitan, Trilegal and JSA. People will come and go and these outfits stand regardless.

Fact v Fiction 22 Jan 2018, 18:10

While it may be true that Partners and some MAs have not got their increments. But, and this is important, on your assertion of Luthra not being in a position to do anything - the one thing they would never do, irrespective of whatever the situation, is say a blatant lie - like the one perpetuated by this unfortunate Khaitan press release.

Kian, I cannot believe that you with your penchant for scoops etc. don't know a commonly known fact - Religare is a Luthra client. Has been for while. It appears that you took the Khaitan press release at face value and now for some strange reason are left to defend it.

And as for Khaitan - well, every time they now come up with a deal press release, people will be forced to wonder whether they really had anything to do with it. The problem with these methods is that till the time you don't get caught it's all hunky dorey, but the moment you get caught your credibility and market reputation goes for a toss - permanently.

truth be told 22 Jan 2018, 12:56

For Luthra- Shinoj Koshy

Unbiased KCO 22 Jan 2018, 17:10

+3 -1

It is so clear that you have a vendetta against Luthra because they don't give you any bytes. You should check that with Wadia probably, what Luthra's role was. They don't have anything to prove to you. Regardless of the rants here by the associates, no one clearly, especially you knows what it takes to run a firm of over 350 people. That's exactly why you keep taking pot shots at Luthra on your circus here. Being stupid is one thing, but being petty is another. Get some class. Publish this comment if you have the courage for open journalism.

Khaitan Rocks 20 Jan 2018, 13:07

+1 -18

These comments are BS. We did advice on the entire transaction. This is a way to malign khaitan. Wadia does not have any transactions these days so try to spoil the names of other firms.

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