AZB & Partners advised a Kedaara Capital-led three-member consortium that included the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Soros Fund Management on its US$100 million purchase of a 60% stake in Spandana Sphoorty Financial, a Hyderabad-based micro-finance institution. The AZB team comprised partners Ashwin Ramanathan and Rinki Ganguli, and associate Ramya Mahidhara.
Nishith Desai Associates represented Spandana. Its team included partner Nishchal Joshipura and associate Abhinav Harlalka. Shearman & Sterling advised the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, with a team led by partner Sidharth Bhasin, supported by associates James Clayton-Payne and Denise Lum.
The deal was signed on 29 March and closed on 31 March. Speaking to India Business Law Journal, Ramanathan said it was “a gruelling transaction, given the timelines and the number of parties involved”. He said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had followed “a slightly different process for the change of control approval”, by giving “in-principle approval first and then final approval”. In addition, Ramanathan said the RBI had reduced the timeline for public notice to 15 days to facilitate the transaction.
You must be a
subscribersubscribersubscribersubscriber
to read this content, please
subscribesubscribesubscribesubscribe
today.
For group subscribers, please click here to access.
Interested in group subscription? Please contact us.