Exclusive: Khaitan & Co has closed the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) of roughly Rs 2,500 crore ($550m) of outstanding debts of former Satyam-owned Maytas Infrastructure following the company’s agreement with the lender banks in June this year.

DLA Piper’s new German hires and Khaitan & Co have advised photovoltaic company Gehrlicher Solar AG on its reported $5m+ joint venture with Indian green-tech company Greenforce Enviro, which was advised by Mumbai firm I&S Associates.

Listed Indian software services company Zensar Technologies has bought Dutch-American software company Akibia for $66m, advised by Khaitan & Co and US firms Greenberg Traurig and Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis.

Khaitan & Co and UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) have advised on the Global Depository Receipt (GDR) issue of Indian coal-bed methane producer Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited (GEECL) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after its listing on London’s Alternative Investments Market (AIM) earlier in 2005.

Khaitan & Co, Wadia Ghandy, Simmons & Simmons and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett have advised on Barclays Bank’s reinvestment in the outsourcing unit Intelenet involving an all-cash acquisition of a 12.75 per cent stake in its holding company SKR BPO Services Private Limited.

Exclusive: AZB & Partners corporate and private equity partner Vaishali Sharma has joined Khaitan & Co’s Mumbai office, as AZB has stemmed a string of associate departures over recent months.

AZB & Partners has topped the mergermarket league table for the first three quarters of 2010 in a record year of M&A activity so far. The firm is followed in the rankings by Desai & Diwanji, Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co and newcomer Tatva Legal according to the total number of mandates.

Khaitan & Co has hired its second full-time banking partner, with former Clifford Chance London and Singapore senior associate Devidas Banerji joining in Mumbai.

It is fair to say that a sizable number of Indian senior associates and junior partners are preoccupied with equity, or rather a lack of it.

Nalsar Hyderabad has placed 35 students with law firms out of a 2011 graduating batch of 81, as the in-house recruitment round is yet to begin.

Khaitan & Co and Kanga & Co have assisted on the sale of more than 74,000 square metres of industrial real estate in Andheri East, Mumbai from Borosil Glass Works to Neepa Real Estate Private Limited for Rs 830 crore ($178m).

EXCLUSIVE: Khaitan & Co has hired Symbiosis graduate Rajat Mukherjee as an “associate partner”, which is the first time a non-equity salaried partner has joined the firm under the revamped partnership structure.

Khaitan & Co and White & Case LLP have advised Indian-listed transmission tower manufacturer KEC International in its $ 95m acquisition of US-based SAE Towers Holdings LLC which was advised by Hogan Lovells LLP.

Private equity giant Blackstone has widened its circle of standing Indian advisers to include Desai & Diwanji on its latest investments in the power sector, having used Khaitan & Co on its previous two major deals. Luthra & Luthra advised its long-standing clients Moser Baer Projects in the $300m stake buy, and Clarus Law led for Monnet Power Company on Blackstone’s $70m investment.

AZB & Partners and Khaitan & Co have assisted in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Rs 1020 crore ($217m) buy today of a 14.12 per cent stake in the Oberoi hotel and resort chain owners.

Khaitan & Co and Majmudar & Co have advised French IT services group Atos Origin in its 100 per cent acquisition of Indian e-payments processing unit Venture Infotek Global for around $99m in order to set-up an integrated Hi-Tech Transactional Services (HTTS) company Atos Wordline in India.

Khaitan & Co along with London-based marine insurance and admiralty specialist Walton & Morse LLP have settled $ 2.9 m dispute between Sesa Goa and a German Shipping conglomerate following an international maritime arbitration.

Khaitan & Co emerged as winner at NLIU Bhopal, winning the signatures of five final-year students on job offers as Trilegal, Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, ICICI Bank and Pangea3 also turned up to recruit from the law school on the first day of its campus recruitment last week and Amarchand Mangaldas inviting 10 students for interview.

Amarchand, Luthra & Luthra, Khaitan & Co and Trilegal have all ramped up their basic starter pay above Rs 10 lakhs, with offered packages including bonuses now running up to Rs 15 lakh at the top end.

NUJS Kolkata saw almost a third of its batch snapped up by law firms as Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra and Trilegal together made 30 offers two weeks ago.