Amarchand Mangaldas acted as the legal counsel to Power Grid Corporation of India in connection with its US$1.13 billion further public offering of equity shares. The deal, which closed on 6 December, is the largest public offering in India since Coal India’s initial public offering in November 2010.
DLA Piper was the sole international counsel on the deal, advising the underwriters, Citigroup Global Markets, ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital, SBI Capital Markets and UBS Securities. Domestic legal advice to the underwriters was provided by Delhi-based law firm S&R Associates.
The offering was undertaken under the fast track route in accordance with regulation 10 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.
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Power Grid is India’s principal electric power transmission company. It owns and operates more than 90% of India’s inter-state transmission systems. The capital raised from the offering will be used to finance 27 transmission projects, including tower erection, the stringing of power lines and substation construction.
Amarchand’s team on the deal was made up of partner Prashant Gupta, principal associate Sayantan Dutta, senior associate Agnik Bhattacharyya and associates Rishika Sengupta, Akanksha Mahapatra and Medha Kumar.
DLA Piper, meanwhile, fielded a team led by Stephen Peeples, a partner and head of the firm’s US capital markets practice in Asia. Peeples was assisted by Biswajit Chatterjee, a partner and co-head of the firm’s India group, senior associates Timothy Franklyn and Joywin Mathew and legal officer Ankita Manav.
“We are delighted to be part of such an important and interesting deal for our clients,” Peeples told India Business Law Journal. “This was a very significant transaction in challenging market conditions and points to a revival in equity capital markets in India,” added Chatterjee.
Gupta at Amarchand Mangaldas explained some of the complexities of the deal: “Being India’s principal power transmission company, such a transaction brings with it all the resulting complexities due to the size of the company and volume of work, and was to be closed in a short timeframe,” he said. “In addition, certain changes in SEBI regulations related to public offerings, such as the release of the general information document for the investors, made this transaction more significant.”
The deal closed too late to be considered for India Business Law Journal’s 2013 Deals of the Year. However, it will be considered next year.
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