AZB, Khaitan & Cyril Amarchand top M&A law firms in 2015

MUMBAI: As the fund raising activities in 2015 picked up, AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas have emerged as top three law firms in the mergers and acquisition (M&A) space.
In the calendar year 2015, of the Rs 6,570-crore deals where law firms were involved, AZB & Partners, Khaitan & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised more than a third of them. Zia Mody-led AZB & Partners was at the top position in the space with a market share of 18.6%, while Khaitan & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas came second and third respectively, with 8.7% market share each.

Meanwhile, in the India Equity IPO space, J Sagar & Associates, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Khaitan & Co emerged as top three legal advisers by volume. In this space, J Sagar & Associates garnered 21.74% market share while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas cornered 18.46% market share, according to Bloomberg Global Legal Advi ser (2015) data.

Speaking to ET, Cyril Shroff, managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said: “I am quite satisfied with the progress of my firm over the last 8 months. The transition has been seamless.“ Two firms--Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas--were formed after the split of India's largest law firm, Amarchand Mangal das last year. “We still get the first call for the complex deals and the growth in new markets has been strong. We hope to do even better in 2016-17 across practices,“ added Shroff.

Many industry trackers are predicting that fund raising, including both M&A and IPO, could surpass even 2015 in the coming 12 months. “I think the outlook for 2016 as far as the private equity is concerned should be strong. Again, I see the healthcare and ecommerce continue to play a major role. However, M&A in the distressed assets space with restructuring is also going to be significantly on the radar,“ said Mody.

Top legal eagles are also hoping that Narendra Modi's Make in India could also help increase the heat in the deal space in the coming year. “The `Make in India' campaign has catapulted India into an attractive destination for doing business and we should see increased level of activity across all the above sectors. The government's initiative to promote Startups will also provide an additional boost for budding entrepreneurs who have promising and path-breaking business ideas,“ said Rabindra Jhunjunwala, partner, Khaitan & Co.

Even as the government is trying to push the reforms through, there could still be some hurdles in the space, say experts.