S&R cross-sells from cap markets to $9.6bn Cairns-Vedanta M&A

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 By Kian Ganz Corporate M&A

S&R Associates has landed the $9.6bn corporate takeover of long-groomed client Cairns India by UK mining giant Vedanta Resources, which was advised by AZB & Partners as Scottish firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and US firm Latham & Watkins stepped up internationally.

S&R fielded a small team that included only Delhi partner Uday Walia and associate Mohit Gogia, said Walia, adding that the relationship with Cairns Plc came about after Cairn’s initial public offering (IPO) in December 2006.

“We were advisers to the underwriters to the IPO,” said Walia. “We struck up a relationship with Cairns which is why they instructed us for general other pieces of advice that we’ve given them over the years.”

Scottish firm Shepherd and Wedderburn is a very long-standing adviser to Cairns, with partners Paul Hally and Stephen Trombala having advised the company on the sale of a stake between 51 and 61 per cent to Vedanta.

AZB & Partners advised Vedanta on Indian law aspects while Latham & Watkins led on international law for the buyer.

AZB’s team was represented by founding partner Zia Mody and partners Shuva Mandal and Essaji Vahanvati while Latham & Watkins led with London partners Graeme Ward and Rory Negus and Hong Kong-based partner David Miles and Singapore partner Rajiv Gupta.

Vedanta will have to make an open offer for an addition 20 per cent stake in Cairn India by October 11, ultimately resulting in a 51 to 60 per cent holding by the Vedanta Group and partly through Sesa Goa. Cairn India is the subsidiary of Cairn Plc.

S&R Associates is currently in the final stages of setting up its Mumbai office in a bid to expand further on its corporate practice.

Photo by cogdog

Comments

Anonymous guest 18 Aug 2010, 22:55

+0 -0

It isn't funny, on every big deal AZB is there. 9.6 Billion Dollar, I think its one of the biggest deals. Where is Amarchand and other bigger firms????

Anonymous guest 18 Aug 2010, 23:43

Well done S&R. In 5 odd years this is fantastic show - working on such big ticket deals. Rumour has it that in the aborted Bharti-MTN transaction as well as in the Bharti-Zain deal, S&R provided extensive "behind the scenes" advise to Bharti capitalising on the good work Sandip did on the Bharti IPO some years ago.

Congratluations !

Anonymous guest 18 Aug 2010, 23:44

@ 1 whenever it comes to merger or acquisition, Zia Mody has to be there. No second choice buddy :-)

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 01:05

Who advised Cairm on English law issues? I understand that the deal was an English law transaction with buyers and sellers being UK entities. Surely Latham's London office represented Vedanta but how could a Scottish Firm advise Cairn? any information on that please?

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 02:18

Agree with #2 S&R has done well to work on big M&A and foreign investment deals including deals reported on legallyindia and elsewhere in the recent past.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 03:20

Great going S&R!

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 03:47

I don't understand what exactly is meant when a firm advises on 'international law' in a deal such as this. There is no public international law involved. If you mean to refer to conflicts, please say that.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 03:50

Agree with #1. If AMSS is so good why have their owners opposed the liberalisation of the legal sector? One the other hand Zia Mody has said she is not against foreign law firms. People who are talented do not fear competition in a free and fair market. And AMSS people who claim they are the best, how come all students at NLSIU/NALSAR/NUJS prefer AZB to AMSS?

It's really hilarious when all these AMSS people claim to be the best.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 04:32

@#4: Slaughter and May was Cairn's English counsel on that deal.

It is annoying how everything on Legally India leads to entry of Foreign Law Firms

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 04:49

It is surprising to not see Luthra figuring anywhere in this! Amarchand is anyway passe!!!

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 17:23

@8 : Rubbish. Toppers still flock to AMSS. Outside India, there is only 1 name that carries any brand value - that is AMSS. In case you have any dounts, check the awards won recently by AMSS and those by AZB. AMSS does more no. and also bigger sized deals.
Whether you like it or not, AMSS is (by a country mile) the best law firm in India.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 18:02

There are only 3 types of stories available on LI. Whether you like it or not, Kian - this is true.

1. Pappu Pager & Co. is the best law firm in India and it has just advised Bellary Mining Co on its acquisition of Rio Tinto.

2. Gangu Teli has been given truckloads of money by a particular group of people with vested interests to block the entry of law foreign firms in India.

3. Chinchpokhli National Law University is the best law school in India and has just won the Raj Thakeray National Moot on Fundamental Rights.

Grow up, LI.

An(Ex)Admirer

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 19:03

Why isn't Coal India IPO reported here? It is by far the biggest ever IPO that has happened in India and a number of lawyers and banks were involved...strange how this has been missed as one of the deals of the year...

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 20:39

#12: You're talking nonsense. Everyone knows that students would rather work for AZB than AMSS and they wish to be recruited by AZB rather than AMSS. Just speak to anyone at NLSIU/NUJS/NALSAR and they will tell you this.

As for brand value, just keep dreaming. AZB is better known and has a tie up with Clifford Chance. The name AZB also sounds a 100 times more cool and hep than Amarchand Mangaldas!

cool man! you have some sense of humour.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 21:23

To all those who are arguing about AZB v Amarchand, a word from someone working outside India now... Both AZB and Amarchand are highly rated in corporate finance work, however Amarchand has the distinct advantage of having a very strong litigation (basically Delhi office), leading cap market and leading banking and finance and projects practice (projects being basically L Viswanathan.)

While Zia and Bahram are no-doubt sterling lawyers, Cyril, Viswanathan, Ciccu and Shardul are also highly regarded.

AZB has lately been involved with high profile multi-billion outbound transactions from India, while Amarchand distinctly stays away from outbound practice as a matter of policy (hearsay from an AM partner). Thus, it is inaccurate to judge amarchand's corporate practice by comparing it with high value outbound deals.

For a new joiner, the point is not which firm is the best, it is under which partner would the new joiner be working and in the case of Amarchand where many practice areas function, which practice area would the new joiner work. Beleive me, working under the wrong kind of senior, whether in AZB or Amarchand can only lead to grief and your future recruiters will judge you for that.

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 21:30

To all the my law school, my law firm, my deal types...
Kiss my a#@

Anonymous guest 19 Aug 2010, 22:21

@18 muah...muah !!

Anonymous guest 20 Aug 2010, 00:26

Since it is fashionable to constantly make this statement on LI, so here goes..."AZB and AMSS will disappear once the foreign firms come to India. SILF should not protest the entry of foreign law firms"

I think I am going to copy this on my clipboard and paste it for every article. These kind of comments are anyways the trend and seen with respect to every post !!!

Anonymous guest 20 Aug 2010, 00:30

@17 to quote you, "while Amarchand distinctly stays away from outbound practice as a matter of policy". I wonder why any Firm (that too with the resources like AMSS) would want to stay away from outbound deals?? Makes no sense?? By the way, wasn't AMSS involved in large outbound deals like Tata-Tetley and Tata Corus?? So this can't be the policy.

Anonymous guest 20 Aug 2010, 03:34

In terms of bandwidth, AMSS clearly beats AZB. Many AZB lawyers do most things, starting from M&A to finance to cap marks to funds to real estate. AMSS' dedicated team structure ensures depth in terms of an individual lawyer's expertise. AZB has also not been able to grow at AMSS' pace in terms of its size (which in turn reflects on the length and breadth of the firm's practice). And the AZB v. AMSS comparison is almost exclusively premised on AZB's Bombay office v. AMSS. Outside Bombay, AZB has fallen way behind many firms.

Anonymous guest 24 Aug 2010, 15:21

13, you do LI a disservice - there's also "4. Pappu Pager & Co. has sworn undying fealty, in a simple but moving exchange of rings, to Lafange Phirangi LLP. And now all their Indian born partners and associates are looking for apartments in Mumbai. We attach a photo. (Of a partner, not an apartment. Apartments are tough to come by in Mumbai)."

Anonymous guest 25 Aug 2010, 04:34

If Azb is as good as it is made out to be, why do so many lawyers leave the firm?

Anonymous guest 1 Sept 2010, 20:48

If AMSS and AZB are as good as u say, and attract all the toppers of the respective law schools, who end up doing due diligence and other forms of donkey's work, why do most of them quit after a year or so???

@18: Bingo...bang on target!!

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