Akshay Chudasama, is the Co-Managing partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. and along with Ms Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, has successfully led the firm to an exponential growth from 60 partners in 2015 to 144 partners as of December 2021. Akshay’s practice is primarily M&A and concentrates on cross-border and multijurisdictional, having advised on several marquee transactions. Consistently recognized as a cross-border M&A specialist by Asia-Pacific Legal 500, Akshay is particularly noted for his expertise in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, real estate, IT, telecommunications and media laws for various high-profile transactions in these areas. He also advises on investment and exits across a wide range of industries. His varied experience includes advising large listed and private companies on public and private M&A, joint ventures, demergers and restructurings as well as both primary and secondary capital raisings. Akshay is highly regarded for his practical advice to multinational companies, PE funds, investment banks and growth stage enterprises on extremely complex deals. Chambers and Partners notes Akshay as a “fantastic deal maker, he understands the real estate funds sector and anticipates the issues a foreign investor will face”. Chambers and Partners 2020 notes that he is highly sought after by both international and domestic clients. He advises on investment, exits across a wide range of industries, and is especially praised for his expertise in the real estate and technology sectors and that he impresses clients with the “depth of his knowledge and ability to close transactions swiftly.” Chambers and Partners, 2022 views Akshay as a ‘Band 1’ lawyer in Corporate/M&A. IFLR 1000 has been consistently recognising Akshay since 2017 and in 2022 views Akshay as a ‘Highly Regarded’ lawyer for Investment funds, Private Equity, M&A, Real Estate Acquisitions. RSG Report 2019 has also highlighted Akshay as ‘business savvy’, an “exceptional communicator” and recommended for having “excellent” M&A experience. Who’s Who Legal sees Akshay as a Global Leader for Corporate Governance and M & A. Akshay was a partner at AZB & Partners for over three years and thereafter at J Sagar Associates for almost 10 years.
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co maintains a thriving real estate and construction practice, housing a specialised team equipped to advise a varied client base, including real estate owners, buyers, lessors, lenders and developers, on a wide range of complex issues, ranging from contract, construction and title disputes, to loan services and foreclosure issues. Co-managing partner Akshay Chudasama specialises in cross-border transactions and regularly represents clients on corporate and private equity transactions, while Bhoumick Vaidya’s expertise ranges from title diligence and acquisition of lands for development of commercial and residential properties, to private equity and debt transactions, leases, leave and license, joint ventures and joint developments. Aarthi Lakshminarayanan routinely advises on statutory compliance and regulatory matters, special economic zone laws, mitigation of risks, title exceptions and complex real estate transactions, while Mrinal Kumar conducts notable work on structuring M&A, private equity transactions, foreign direct investment laws and land acquisition.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Mrinal Kumar: hands on in the matter, depth of knowledge of the transaction, ability to identify issues and solutions.'
- 'The team shows negotiation skills, patience, and in-depth diligence.'
- 'Deal solution, domain expertise, timeliness of closure.'
- 'They are very solution oriented and updated on the latest amendments.'
Key clients
- Brookfield India REIT
- Bain Capital Credit, L.P.
- Kotak Investment Advisors Limited
- Hero Future Energies Private Limited
- Birla Estates Private Limited
- Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited
- AGP DC Infra Two Private Limited
- Mitsubishi Electric India Private Limited
- Tata Electronics Private Limited, part of the TATA Group
- Ascendas Asia Real Estate Fund Management Pte Ltd (part of CapitaLand Group)
- KIMS Hospital Bengaluru Private Limited, vpart of the KIMS Hospitals Group
- Solitaire Group
- Kamaths Ourtimes Icecreams Private Limited (Natural Ice Creams)
- Brookfield
- HHLR Management Pte. Ltd. & Alta Capital Management LLP
Work highlights
- Advised Brookfield India REIT on acquisition by Brookfield India REIT and GIC of two commercial properties from Brookfield’s private funds for $1.4bn.
- Advised Bain Capital Credit, L.P. on the transaction in which, as a first step, Macrotech mDevelopers Limited together with Bain Capital and Ivanhoé Cambridge created a platform to invest in logistics and light industrial parks, as well as in-city fulfilment centres, by way of creation of multiple SPVs. The SPV will acquire land for the purposes of construction of warehouses.
- Advised Kotak Investment Advisors Limited on debt financing to Bharat Hotels Limited.
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Leading individuals
Mrinal Kumar is an equity partner with the Firm and specialises in areas of General Corporate, Real Estate, Retail and E-commerce. Mrinal has worked extensively on the real estate practice area focussing on merger & acquisitions, structuring transactions, advising on foreign direct investment laws, land acquisition, construction contracts, local land laws of various States in India, for large domestic and international clients. He has also drafted and negotiated transactions documents for domestic and international clients. Mrinal has been actively involved in the corporate commercial advisory relating to Corporate and Real Estate transactions including structuring, drafting and negotiating transactions for domestic and international clients. Mrinal has led several high value transactions. Some of the prominent matters that Mrinal has advised include Reall UK on the structuring and debt funding of an affordable housing project in India; Reliance Industries Limited on the real estate related aspects of the acquisition of the retail business of the Future Group through its group company; Kubota Corporation, Japan on the real estate related aspects of the transaction which involved acquisition of control of Escorts Limited by Kubota; American Express India Private Limited on acquisition of land and setting up of a campus in NCR; Bharti Realty Limited on development and management of a residential project in Delhi NCR; OYO Group on acquisition of 5 star hotels; Mrinal has been advising Government of India, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs on various legislations. Chambers and Partners, 2022 views Mrinal as ‘Band 1’ lawyer for Real Estate. He has been adjudged as one of the leading real estate lawyer in the India Region by Asialaw Leading Lawyers for 12 consecutive years, from 2010 to 2021. Mrinal has also been adjudged as a ‘leading lawyer’ in construction and real estate by The Legal 500 in 2018-19. Mrinal has been recognised as “IBLJ’s A-List of India’s Top 100 Lawyers” in 2019. Mrinal has been consistently ranked in ‘Band 1’ for his expertise in Real Estate by Chambers and Partners from 2016 to 2022.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Akshay Chudasama, Mrinal Kumar