PDS Legal is a full service law firm providing legal services to large corporations, financial institutions, and other clients. With offices in Mumbai and New Delhi, the firm has a dedicated team of lawyers providing a full range of legal services on matters relating to corporate and commercial laws, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, real estate, infrastructure, project financing, leveraged buyouts, restructuring, antitrust law, tax (direct and indirect), and dispute resolution.
Since inception, the firm has been providing its clients with legal services operating across a broad spectrum of industries. Its research oriented and industry specific approach has consistently resulted in significant value additions and pragmatic solutions for its clients which include, amongst others, the Vicat Group, the Hyundai Group, the LG Group, Monsanto, GlaxoSmithKline, Deutsche Bank Asset Management, Tata Capital, Go Air, Air France and the B.K. Modi Group. The firm is led by global business principles of quality, unity, and efficiency which drive its strategy and make it distinctive. In short, effectively delivering high-quality services in a timely manner is what describes PDS Legal the best.
Recognized for its industry focus, the firm has a strong presence across all the key industry sectors including financial institutions, energy, infrastructure, aviation, manufacturing, technology and innovation. While working on a transaction, PDS Legal takes into consideration factors that involve more than just pure law and provides comprehensive and pragmatic solutions which lead to an enhanced level of corporate governance. Additionally, clients appreciate the round the clock digital support the firm provides.
The Firm’s take on Current Scenario
The political scenario has been conducive to economic development. Factors such as increased technology penetration and disruptions caused due to new entrants have forced companies to think along the lines of consolidation. All of this has resulted in increased activity in the mergers and acquisitions space, which is poised to grow in the near future. To cope with such disruptions, PDS Legal is assisting clients in restructuring their businesses to achieve value maximization.
During its initial days, the firm was largely dependent on relationships with promoters and their families. With the evolving framework of corporate governance in consonance with international best practices in India, decision-making has now shifted to a structured and researched process, and companies are increasingly dependent on law firms to understand the impact of such decisions.
Further, liberalization and privatization witnessed creation of sector-specific regulators such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, the Competition Commission of India et al, to cater to the needs of the sectors with their domain expertise and technical regulations. Consequently, timelines for completion of deals have to take into account the processes involved to obtain approvals from such sector specific regulators.
Why Choose PDS Legal?
The firm believes that the emerging technology-based economy requires tech-savvy, business-savvy, and network-savvy lawyers. The firm incorporates these skill-sets in its lawyers through continuous knowledge training programs. Its processes and work-culture are unique – non-hierarchical, open, and collaborative. The firm also believes that the early adoption of technology can be a game changer. As such, it is constantly aligning its existing processes and investing in technology to automate manual processes. This enables the firm’s lawyers to accord more time for client interaction.
At PDS legal, the lawyers take utmost efforts to understand the intricacies of the client’s business and consistently leverage its research and knowledge-based approach to deliver premium and high-quality services tailored to the specific needs of the client. The M&A teams are led by senior and experienced lawyers such as Monika Deshmukh, Neil Hildreth, Ayesha Rai, Anirudh Mukherjee, and Nidhi Arora.
The team at PDS Legal consists of several dual qualified lawyers including lawyers with degrees from prestigious international universities, and also includes lawyers who have worked internationally across jurisdictions. Their in-depth knowledge of the regions and markets, and capability to advice on transactions has helped the firm’s clients to grow significantly.
The M&A Practice
With over two decades of experience in advising clients in corporate and commercial matters, Probal Bhaduri is the Law Leader and heads the New Delhi Practice. He has acquired the memberships of the New York State Bar Association and Bar Council of Delhi. His core areas of focus include advising domestic and foreign clients on mergers, acquisitions, private equity investments, cross-border deals, JVs and real estate transactions. He has led teams in a large number of domestic deals, including, mergers, demergers, acquisitions, and has built a notable general corporate advisory practice. In the last few years, he has also been actively involved in providing strategic advice in matters of shareholder and commercial disputes, as well as in the area of economic offences.
Recognized as a notable aviation and corporate law practitioner, Vihang Virkar heads the Mumbai Practice. He has advised clients on a variety of domestic and transnational transactions which involved aspects ranging from commercial laws, securities laws, mergers and acquisitions, anti-trust regulations, asset and business purchases, private equity funding and security sales and purchases.
Recently, Vihang and Probal have been acknowledged in the list of ranked lawyers for India in Aviation; and M&A and Corporate Law respectively, in the 2019 edition of the ‘Chambers and Partners rankings’. They have also been recognized as leading lawyers and the firm’s corporate, and mergers and acquisitions practice has been recognized as notable in the ‘Asia law profiles ranking’.
The Path Ahead
Already having taken great strides in the development of its practice, PDS Legal believes that there is still much to accomplish, including the continued investment in the growth of the firm – geographically, by industry and by legal expertise. The firm is committed to a growth strategy across all its regions with an aim to deliver this growth rapidly and effectively, in alignment with their nationwide plan in the near future.
The firm is adding practices to its existing suite and the next few years are about reinforcing the brand, continuing to provide top-quality advice to clients, and ensuring PDS Legal is where clients need it. In the meanwhile, the firm will continue to harness opportunities to grow organically and inorganically.
Source :-The 10 Highly Trusted Merger & Acquisition Consulting Firms in 2018
