Allen & Gledhill has acted as transaction counsel to venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures on leading the US$1.64 million pre-series A round investment in Umami United, a foodtech start-up which develops Japanese-inspired plant-based food products, such as the plant-based egg substitute UMAMI EGG. Partner Nicholas Soh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayfront Infrastructure Management, on the issue of five classes of notes, comprising US$170.6 million Class A1 senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$115 million Class A1-SU senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$54.5 million Class B senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$31.6 million Class C senior secured floating rate notes due 2044 and US$13 million Class D senior secured floating rate notes due 2044. The five classes of notes are backed by cash flows from a portfolio of project and infrastructure loans and bonds in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Americas regions. The Class A1 Notes, Class A1-SU Notes, Class B Notes and Class C Notes are rated investment grade and listed in Singapore. The mezzanine Class D Notes are unlisted and unrated, and guaranteed by GuarantCo, a contingent credit solutions provider that is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group. The unrated equity tranche comprising preference shares of Bayfront Infrastructure Capital is 80.5 percent held by Bayfront as sponsor of the transaction, while the remaining 19.5 percent is held by the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, as part of its Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme. Bayfront wholly-owned subsidiary BIM Asset Management is the collateral manager for the transaction. Partners Yeo Wico, Jeanne Ong, Andrew Chan, Jo Tay and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and investment funds, vehicles and/or entities managed and/or advised by it or its affiliates on the Rs40 billion (US$480.4m) acquisition by IndiGrid Trust and its affiliates of 100 percent of the units of Virescent Renewable Energy and shares of Virescent Infrastructure Investment Manager. Partners Ashwath Rau and Atreya Bhattacharya led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on September 6, 2023.
AZB & Partners has also advised Michael & Susan Dell Foundation on its acquisition of equity stake in CredRight. Partners Hardeep Sachdeva, Priyamvada Shenoy, Rohan Bagai and Gaurav Priyadarshi led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on August 19, 2023.
Moreover, AZB & Partners has advised 3Pillar Global and its affiliate TPG Software on 3Pillar Global’s acquisition of Chenoa Information Services. Partners Ashwath Rau, Vipul Jain, Ramya Suresh and Aditya Singh Chandel led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on August 30, 2023.
Baker McKenzie has acted as international counsel for Vertex Ventures on the formation and global private placement of its fifth fund targeting investments in high-growth, early-stage technology and technology-enabled start-ups in Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI Fund V), which raised total commitments of US$541 million. This includes US$50 million raised through a separate co investment vehicle that will invest alongside VVSEAI Fund V in women-led start-ups. The global private placement of VVSEAI Fund V included a pool of existing and new investors, comprising sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, corporate investors, family offices and other institutional investors across Asia and Europe. The firm also advised Vertex Ventures on the formation of Vertex Master Fund III (VMF III), a fund of funds that will invest in Vertex Ventures’ global network of funds. VMF III raised over US$900 million at its first close from investors, which included Marubeni, the Development Bank of Japan and Risa Partners. Capital raised by VMF III will be deployed across Vertex Ventures’ global network of regional and thematic funds. Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow principal Kelvin Poa led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has advised Citi, Standard Chartered Bank, ING, OCBC, Société Générale and SMBC Nikko, as joint lead managers and joint book-runners, on Bayfront Infrastructure Management’s US$410.3 million infrastructure asset-backed securities (IABS) issuance by Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV. The transaction is Bayfront’s fourth securitisation, offering five classes of notes to institutional investors (Class A1, Class A1-SU, Class B, Class C and Class D), of which Class A, B and C were rated and listed in Singapore. This includes a dedicated sustainability tranche backed by eligible green and social assets that meets the eligibility criteria specified in the Bayfront Sustainable Finance Framework dated August 2023. This latest transaction will expose investors to US$410.3 million portfolio of 40 individual loans and bonds, 33 projects loans across 15 countries and ten industry sub-sectors. This latest issuance also introduced a number of novel features, including the provision of a guarantee from GuarantCo for the unrated Class D notes and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office investing in the equity tranche as part of its Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme. Partner Paul Landless, supported by partner Gareth Deiner, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has represented SEIL Energy on an arbitration proceeding initiated against it by its contractor NCC on disputes arising out of EPC contracts aggregating to Rs25.57 billion (US$307m) for construction of a 1320 MW thermal power plant in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. NCC had filed claims for about Rs15.57 billion (US$187m), out of which about Rs14.56 billion (US$175m) was rejected by the Arbitration Tribunal, and an award of Rs1 billion (US$12m) was passed in favour of NCC, with interest and cost. SEIL had filed counter-claims of more than Rs10 billion (US$120m) plus US$9.04 million, but only about Rs7 billion (US$84m) was allowed by the arbitration tribunal. The date of the award was September 14, 2023. Partner Kapil Arora led the firm’s team in the matter.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Bessemer Venture Partners on the Series D fund raising of Perfios, a fintech that provides real-time credit underwriting solutions to banks and NBFCs. Kedaara Capital was the investor in this round. Partner Suvojit Halder led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on September 9, 2023.
Khaitan & Co has represented Parle on securing a favourable ruling from the Delhi High Court in relation to suit filed by PepsiCo which sought to restrain Parle from using PepsiCo’s registered trade mark ‘For the Bold’ on its products. In response, Parle challenged the validity of PepsiCo’s trade mark ‘For the Bold’ and sought for framing of the issue of invalidity of PepsiCo’s trade mark. While allowing the aforesaid plea of Parle raising the issue of invalidity, the Delhi High Court rejected on September 18, 2023 the prayer of PepsiCo to restrain Parle from using the trade mark ‘For the Bold’ on its products. However, it has directed Parle to not use the tagline ‘For The Bold’ as the predominant part of its advertising campaign, and not to alter the label on its “B Fizz” bottle without prior approval of the court. Partner Ankur Sangal led the firm’s team in the matter.
Allen & Gledhill has acted as transaction counsel to venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures on leading the US$1.64 million pre-series A round investment in Umami United, a foodtech start-up which develops Japanese-inspired plant-based food products, such as the plant-based egg substitute UMAMI EGG. Partner Nicholas Soh led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Allen & Gledhill has also advised Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayfront Infrastructure Management, on the issue of five classes of notes, comprising US$170.6 million Class A1 senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$115 million Class A1-SU senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$54.5 million Class B senior secured floating rate notes due 2044, US$31.6 million Class C senior secured floating rate notes due 2044 and US$13 million Class D senior secured floating rate notes due 2044. The five classes of notes are backed by cash flows from a portfolio of project and infrastructure loans and bonds in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Americas regions. The Class A1 Notes, Class A1-SU Notes, Class B Notes and Class C Notes are rated investment grade and listed in Singapore. The mezzanine Class D Notes are unlisted and unrated, and guaranteed by GuarantCo, a contingent credit solutions provider that is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group. The unrated equity tranche comprising preference shares of Bayfront Infrastructure Capital is 85 percent held by Bayfront as sponsor of the transaction, while the remaining 19.5 percent is held by the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, as part of its Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme. Bayfront wholly-owned subsidiary BIM Asset Management is the collateral manager for the transaction. Partners Yeo Wico, Jeanne Ong, Andrew Chan, Jo Tay and Sunit Chhabra led the firm’s team in the transaction.
AZB & Partners has advised Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and investment funds, vehicles and/or entities managed and/or advised by it or its affiliates on the Rs40 billion (US$480.4m) acquisition by IndiGrid Trust and its affiliates of 100 percent of the units of Virescent Renewable Energy and shares of Virescent Infrastructure Investment Manager. Partners Ashwath Rau and Atreya Bhattacharya led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on September 6, 2023.
AZB & Partners has also advised Michael & Susan Dell Foundation on its acquisition of equity stake in CredRight. Partners Hardeep Sachdeva, Priyamvada Shenoy, Rohan Bagai and Gaurav Priyadarshi led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on August 19, 2023.
Moreover, AZB & Partners has advised 3Pillar Global and its affiliate TPG Software on 3Pillar Global’s acquisition of Chenoa Information Services. Partners Ashwath Rau, Vipul Jain, Ramya Suresh and Aditya Singh Chandel led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was completed on August 30, 2023.
Baker McKenzie has acted as international counsel for Vertex Ventures on the formation and global private placement of its fifth fund targeting investments in high-growth, early-stage technology and technology-enabled start-ups in Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI Fund V), which raised total commitments of US$541 million. This includes US$50 million raised through a separate co investment vehicle that will invest alongside VVSEAI Fund V in women-led start-ups. The global private placement of VVSEAI Fund V included a pool of existing and new investors, comprising sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, corporate investors, family offices and other institutional investors across Asia and Europe. The firm also advised Vertex Ventures on the formation of Vertex Master Fund III (VMF III), a fund of funds that will invest in Vertex Ventures’ global network of funds. VMF III raised over US$900 million at its first close from investors, which included Marubeni, the Development Bank of Japan and Risa Partners. Capital raised by VMF III will be deployed across Vertex Ventures’ global network of regional and thematic funds. Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow principal Kelvin Poa led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Clifford Chance has advised Citi, Standard Chartered Bank, ING, OCBC, Société Générale and SMBC Nikko, as joint lead managers and joint book-runners, on Bayfront Infrastructure Management’s US$410.3 million infrastructure asset-backed securities (IABS) issuance by Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV. The transaction is Bayfront’s fourth securitisation, offering five classes of notes to institutional investors (Class A1, Class A1-SU, Class B, Class C and Class D), of which Class A, B and C were rated and listed in Singapore. This includes a dedicated sustainability tranche backed by eligible green and social assets that meets the eligibility criteria specified in the Bayfront Sustainable Finance Framework dated August 2023. This latest transaction will expose investors to US$410.3 million portfolio of 40 individual loans and bonds, 33 projects loans across 15 countries and ten industry sub-sectors. This latest issuance also introduced a number of novel features, including the provision of a guarantee from GuarantCo for the unrated Class D notes and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office investing in the equity tranche as part of its Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme. Partner Paul Landless, supported by partner Gareth Deiner, led the firm’s team in the transaction.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has represented SEIL Energy on an arbitration proceeding initiated against it by its contractor NCC on disputes arising out of EPC contracts aggregating to Rs25.57 billion (US$307m) for construction of a 1320 MW thermal power plant in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. NCC had filed claims for about Rs15.57 billion (US$187m), out of which about Rs14.56 billion (US$175m) was rejected by the Arbitration Tribunal, and an award of Rs1 billion (US$12m) was passed in favour of NCC, with interest and cost. SEIL had filed counter-claims of more than Rs10 billion (US$120m) plus US$9.04 million, but only about Rs7 billion (US$84m) was allowed by the arbitration tribunal. The date of the award was September 14, 2023. Partner Kapil Arora led the firm’s team in the matter.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has also advised Bessemer Venture Partners on the Series D fund raising of Perfios, a fintech that provides real-time credit underwriting solutions to banks and NBFCs. Kedaara Capital was the investor in this round. Partner Suvojit Halder led the firm’s team in the transaction, which was signed on September 9, 2023.
Khaitan & Co has represented Parle on securing a favourable ruling from the Delhi High Court in relation to suit filed by PepsiCo which sought to restrain Parle from using PepsiCo’s registered trade mark ‘For the Bold’ on its products. In response, Parle challenged the validity of PepsiCo’s trade mark ‘For the Bold’ and sought for framing of the issue of invalidity of PepsiCo’s trade mark. While allowing the aforesaid plea of Parle raising the issue of invalidity, the Delhi High Court rejected on September 18, 2023 the prayer of PepsiCo to restrain Parle from using the trade mark ‘For the Bold’ on its products. However, it has directed Parle to not use the tagline ‘For The Bold’ as the predominant part of its advertising campaign, and not to alter the label on its “B Fizz” bottle without prior approval of the court. Partner Ankur Sangal led the firm’s team in the matter.
Skadden has advised JP Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co, Citigroup Global Markets, BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley & Co, as joint lead managers and joint book-runners, on Nippon Life Insurance’s US$930 million Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of 6.25 percent step-up callable subordinated notes due 2053. The notes were listed in Singapore. Tokyo corporate partner Kenji Taneda led the firm’s team in the transaction.
S&R Associates is representing listed company Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on its proposed Rs56.51 billion (US$678.6m) sale of 75 percent of the equity shares of its subsidiary Glenmark Life Sciences, a listed active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer, to Nirma. Partners Rajat Sethi and Pratichi Mishra, supported by competition practice head Simran Dhir and partners Sumit Bansal and Divyanshu Pandey, led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Trilegal has represented 2452991 Ontario and 2743298 Ontario, subsidiaries of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), on securing an unconditional approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in relation to the proposed acquisition of unitholding in Highways Infrastructure Trust (HIT) and equity stake in Highway Concessions One (HC One). This approval is among the first set of orders passed by the CCI after two additional members were sworn-in only on September 19, 2023. The largest single-profession pension plan in Canada, OTPP is jointly sponsored by the Government of Ontario and Ontario Teachers’ Federation. An Indian infrastructure investment trust registered with the Securities Exchange Board of India, HIT owns several road assets and operates roads and highways in India. HC One is the investment managers of HIT. Partners Nisha Kaur Uberoi (competition law head) and Gautam Chawla led the firm’s team in the matter. AZB & Partners represented HIT and HC One.
Trilegal is also representing Premji Invest, through PI Opportunities Fund I-Scheme II, on securing unconditional approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in relation to the proposed acquisition of equity stake in TVS Credit Services. This was one of the most complex deals in the fast growing NBFC space, where companies have played a pivotal role in driving sustainable economic growth in India and have hugely helped improve the access to credit for the country’s vast unorganized sector. This approval is among the first set of orders passed by the CCI after two additional members were sworn-in only on September 19, 2023. An affiliate of Premji Invest, PI Opportunities Fund I-Scheme II is the private equity and venture capital investment arm of Premji Foundation. The Premji Foundation has been set up to advance the philanthropic initiatives of Premji Invest and is ultimately controlled by Mr Azim Premji. A Non-Deposit taking Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial Company incorporated in India, TVS Credit primarily provides two-wheeler loans, used car loans, new and used tractor loans, used commercial vehicle loans, MSME loans, consumer durable loans and personal loans in India. Partners Nisha Kaur Uberoi (competition law head) and Rudresh Singh led the firm’s team in the matter. Khaitan & Co represented TVS Credit.
Moreover, Trilegal has represented Glenmark Life Sciences (GLS), a listed pharmaceutical manufacturer of APIs, on the proposed sale of 75 percent GLS equity shares by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to Nirma. The proposed share sale is for an aggregated consideration of Rs56.51 billion (US$678.6m), subject to customary closing adjustments. Partners Yogesh Singh (corporate practice national head), Tejas Adiga (corporate) and Atul Gupta (labour and employment) led the firm’s team in the transaction, which is subject to a mandatory open offer to be made by Nirma, customary conditions precedent, including but not limited to lender consents, regulatory and shareholder approvals.
