Bharuchas & Mundkurs hit undo on 4-month-old merger, BSP re-branding

Thursday, 17 October 2019 By Legally India Law firms

Mundkur independent again after short-lived Bharucha merger

Bharucha Singh & Partners has reverted into its pre-April 2019-merger constituents, Bharucha & Partners and Mundkur Law Offices.

The split was finalised around six weeks ago, both sides confirmed and we have now reported (somewhat late in the day).

Bharucha partner Justin Bharucha commented: “We unwound the merger a month and a half back, we remain good friends and our practice continues.”

Bharucha & Partners thereby returns to its name pre-dating the re-brand that had incorporated the names of Delhi-based partner DP Singh and Bangalore-based Mundkur.

Singh remains with Bharucha & Partners, which now has 9 partners and total fee-earners of around 59.

Ramanand Mundkur said: “We unwound the merger over a month and a half ago. Our firm continues its practice as MLP (Mundkur Law Partners).”

Mundkur Law Partners, which had originally been established in 2007, will operate with 2 partners and 12 fee-earners from Bangalore, as it did before joining Bharucha.

Mundkur and his wife and partner Divya Balagopal (respectively 1994/96 NLSIU Bangalore graduates) specialise in corporate finance, M&A and private equity.

The merger had given Bharucha a considerably stronger base in Bangalore.

Part of the merger was also a re-branding of the Bombay solicitors firm to Bharucha Singh Mundkur, though the name of the legal entity had remained Bharucha & Partners.

In March 2019, partner Abhishek Malhotra had left the firm after a merger to go independent as TMT Law Practice again.

Comments

Bruce 17 Oct 2019, 11:54

+5 -0

Would be interesting to find out if any Indian law firm merger has survived more than a year. Kian?

Guest 17 Oct 2019, 12:15

+8 -2

AZB

Michael Scott 17 Oct 2019, 12:22

+18 -0

If you consider JSA:
1. Mumbai office: Formed (or Crystallised) by Berjis Desai by merging his practice from Udwadia Udeshi & Berjis
2. Bangalore office: Merged with M&C Partners (Now Vivek Chandy who had founded M&C is serving as the Joint Managing Partner)
3. Chennai: Merged with Vichar Partners.

So it's not about mergers failing in India. Mergers fail primarily in firms which are either family-run; or are so promoter-driven, that there's no scope of ego-adjustment for cultural integration.

JSAinsider 17 Oct 2019, 12:53

+10 -2

This is a good example in theory, but post merger JSA doesn't operate as one singular entity. This could be because there is no one-boss-to-rule-them-all, but the Hyderabad and Ahmedabad teams, for instance, operate as completely different entities, while the Chennai team could just call itself Vichar because there is no integration whatsoever.

Bruce 17 Oct 2019, 12:55

+1 -1

Interesting...thanks for the info.
Kian - suggestion for you - do an article on tsuccessful mergers and unsuccessful ones, analysing the reasons for success and failure. It would be a really interesting read.

Bruce 17 Oct 2019, 12:57

+1 -0

Part 2

And may be confine the analysis on mergers of roughly equal sized firms

Guest 17 Oct 2019, 13:26

JSA Bombay was set up by Hemant Sahai

Michael Scott 18 Oct 2019, 04:11

Don't think that's completely true, unless I wrongly understood what you meant by "singular entity". JSA openly states that it follows a "One firm. One Nation. One Balance sheet", which makes it one entity. In theory plus in practice. However, in terms of autonomy, yes, the EPs from Chennai, Ahmedabad offices have the autonomy to run the firm like they wish.

babu bhaiya 17 Oct 2019, 18:17

Link Legal

ROFR 21 Oct 2019, 14:00

+3 -0

The way their merger has gone for a toss is known to all.
Very sad story of unequal bargaining powers and culture clashes.

BMR? 18 Oct 2019, 04:03

SAM took over BMR in 2017. "Survive" is a subjective term. They get the dingy Gurgaon office and get no promotions or raises

Special 26 17 Oct 2019, 12:08

+19 -2

Bharucha should merge with Luthra

Jackal 17 Oct 2019, 12:09

+13 -3

What are the Bharuchas doing! [...] This is really embarrassing for the once revered Bharuchas. Very amateurish. Good to see the second generation of Bharuchas, i.e. Justin, take over the reins. At least, with 5 family members at the helm, they will be able to run it like an efficient family office.

vagato 18 Oct 2019, 05:43

Exactly my thoughts. Bharucha & partners is a reputable name in Mumbai circles, certainly in litigation.

B&P / BSM / BS /BDSM.. 17 Oct 2019, 12:23

+9 -0

[img]https://media1.giphy.com/media/Qx4V3In6m4hUhYrdSd/200.gif[/img]

Khajoora 17 Oct 2019, 13:02

+50 -1

....jab clients ki deal na mile tou khud hi merger-demerger kar lo !!

Anit 17 Oct 2019, 14:00

+18 -3

How can a merger fall in 3 months!?! It's sad to see a once promising firm unravel and derail so fast. How can senior and seasoned lawyers, who regularly advise clients on mergers, so miserably fail when it comes to their own business? Hilarious. Vivek (Vashi) was the best that they had but who too left them.

DosaMan 17 Oct 2019, 15:21

Cam+MNP

Spicejet Legal 17 Oct 2019, 15:48

law shops must merge with Paan Shops and sell Benatasi Paan as Maghai Paan

indigo jet 17 Oct 2019, 21:10

banarasi paan u mean?

Typographical Error 17 Oct 2019, 16:05

will operate with 2 (INSERT "[b]PARTNERS[/b]") and 12 fee-earners from Bangalore

kianganz 17 Oct 2019, 16:51

+0 -0

Thanks, corrected!

Ex B&P 18 Oct 2019, 05:49

+13 -2

From what started out as a viable alternative to the hegemony of Amarchand to where it stands today...B&P should look inwards, ruminate and seriously think about what went wrong...

A few reasons I could come up with - too old world, family first and knack for losing good people!

Back in 2008, it did stand out but, now, from what I can fathom, it's just one in the crowd! MP was the doyen of the litigation/arbitration world. Alka was (and, maybe still is) one of the best corporate lawyers in the country. Vivek and Justin were a promising second level. Even the 3rd level with the likes of Anuradha, Krish (in Lit) and Dipankar, Jai, Abhira (in Corp) was spectacular. It was a wonderful firm back then! But, somehow, the firm lost its way (and the 3rd level) as well as it's challenger-identity!

Coming to its attempts to merge / grow inorganically - First, Karanjawala. Then, the Delhi experiments. Followed by TMT, Singh. And, now, Mundkur. Just goes on to show how desperate the firm has become to gain a wider footprint and shake-off the family firm tag. Well, from what I (and many have personally experienced), the latter is easier said than done simply because there is no real conviction!

But, I remain a well wisher. Will be the happiest if the firm recovers any of its past glory!

Count your sins 18 Oct 2019, 10:58

+13 -1

Yes, it will sadly remain one of the "could-have-been" stories. It is very important how you treat your people. Simply paying big salaries won't help you retain people if you keep treating people badly. Just name 5 ex senior lawyers from B&P who would fondly speak about the Bharuchas (Alka being the only exception). It's sad to see the Bharuchas fall, but arrogance and hubris can only get one that far. If goodwill & blessings work wonders, so does ill-will & curse of the mistreated.

Leon 18 Oct 2019, 08:27

The Bharucha firm was always a wannabe AMSS. They were never of the same caliber.

Quite. 18 Oct 2019, 13:53

+7 -0

Not many remember when B&P exploded onto the scene, grabbing marquee deal after marquee deal and poaching Tier-1 firm clients left right and centre in Mumbai. In fact their proclivity to merge and de-merge came from ambitions fueled by a skyrocketing book. But as with all family run firms, they ran into retention issues at the higher level which also led to client retention issues. The TMT deal is a reminder of what happens when a firm looks outwards alone and doesn't grow organically

Titan 21 Oct 2019, 06:59

Kian, where did you get this information that MLP has 12 fee earners as on date ?

ex bharucha 24 Oct 2019, 08:54

B&P [...] When they separated from AMSS, they had a promising run even better than the the fledgling Khaitan office. But MP and Alka gave power [...] too soon and couldnt retain their 12 lawyesr who moved with them, shriti, shraddha, dipankar and jay, ..all hardworking and very loyal to Alka. If it was Alka at the helm maybe things would have been different. The third rung with michelle, siddarth, archan , mayuri , natasha and many others was also being well groomed but a family run firm cannot retain intelligent professionals who are committed to the work and their boss but not willing to be part of family politics or fiefdom.

Sad day. Wish Alka the best always.

Guest 25 Oct 2019, 07:22

B&P -sad state of affairs . Hope Justin and team realize that and let others take control. It's been embarrassing the kind of mergers and breaks ups B&P has been experiencing.

bharucha well wisher 5 Nov 2019, 09:12

+2 -0

This is sad Alka is truly nice. However, her team is scattered and Bharuchas never really built the firm. Middle management needs to become people friendly and appreciative to retain loyalists but good people like Jay, Dipankar Shradha, Krish, Shriti. They worked hard for Bharuchas.

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