After two decades at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), Reuben Chacko, senior partner and regional co-head markets practice (south) has decided to move to S&R Associates.
Chacko will be joining as partner in the firm’s capital practice in Bengaluru from August 1.
“Sandip Bhagat [partner at S&R] and I have known each other for more than a decade now … he’s a veteran in the capital markets practice. He’s one of the senior-most capital markets lawyer in the country,” Chacko told India Business Law Journal.
He said that if it were not this “golden opportunity to set up his practice in the south”, Chacko was happy working at CAM. “There is no negative reason why I’m leaving CAM. It’s only a positive reason that I’m joining S&R.”
Chacko worked at Amarchand Mangaldas for eight years and subsequently served CAM for 12 years.
He said the transition from a 1,000-member law firm to a 200-lawyer firm “is a fantastic opportunity for me to set up this south capital markets practice. So, the feeling I have around it is like moving from a ship to a yacht”.
He told IBLJ, “Perhaps this will be my last innings in the capital markets space. I’m looking at it from a next 10-year window maximum.”
On his vision for S&R, Chacko said, “Sandip has a fantastic … niche capital markets practice only in Delhi and Bombay. The south is untapped. For Sandip, the win-win is he is getting me and CAM-trained lawyers.
“I am coming with my intellectual property, my clientele, my contacts, my team and all the goodwill that I carry with me is moving into his office, which he has just set up in Bengaluru.”
Chacko, who started his career in Mumbai, moved to Delhi and later Bengaluru, said his experience meant nothing would be a challenge for him.
Chacko recently filed the draft herring prospectus for the Cultfit IPO and said he was a “specialist in making companies public”.
“My core sectoral specialisation is in NBFCs [non-banking financial companies] and banks. Healthcare and pharma is also my strength. I have done most of those IPOs,” he said, adding that “I have done IPOs for all Kerala companies.”
Chacko told IBLJ, “I am not targeting Mumbai or Delhi. My target audience, my target clientele is in the south of India. Primarily between Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kerala as a whole, which is essentially Kochi, Thrissur and Chennai. That’s my operating space.”
He said partner Aparna Ravi and a few associates were already at the Bengaluru office.
“I am excited to collaborate and work with Aparna to deepen the market for Sandip Bhagat in the south,” Chacko said.
“Not only capital markets, but my strength is business development. That is what I come with. Even at CAM, I am the person who brings in work not only for capital markets, but also for the corporate side of things.”
