30 November, 2017
Duane Morris & Selvam LLP was the sole international legal counsel on Edelweiss Financial Services Limited’s(“Edelweiss”) recent sale of approximately Rs. 15,280 million (US$235 million) of its shares in a qualified institutions placement (“QIP”), including a concurrent private placement in the United States. Duane Morris & Selvam represented Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited, Emkay Global Financial Services Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited and SBI Capital Markets Limited, in their role as the book running lead managers for the QIP.
Edelweiss is is one of India’s leading diversified financial services conglomerates providing a broad range of financial products and services. Its key lines of business are credit (retail, corporate and distressed), franchise & advisory (wealth management, asset management and capital markets) and insurance. Its shares are listed in India on the BSE and the NSE and its market capitalization was approximately US$4.03 billion as of 27 November 2017.
Duane Morris & Selvam’s deal team was led by Jamie Benson, the head of the firm’s U.S. securities law practice and India practice. Benson is based in the firm’s Singapore office. The deal team also included partner Gerard Hekker, associates Jaya Malhotra, Gan Cheng Kai, Akshay Kothari, and trainee Amanda Loh, all of whom are based in the firm’s Singapore office, as well as partner Hope Krebs in the Philadelphia office.
Commenting on the deal, Benson said:
“I was very pleased we were appointed as the sole international legal counsel on this deal. Edelweiss is one of the leading investment banks in India and they have worked with many international law firms over the years, so acting as the sole international legal counsel on this deal is a real feather in our cap. We faced a number of challenges on this deal. Edelweiss has more than 50 subsidiaries and operations in seven countries. Edelweiss’ statutory auditor was only recently changed and we ended up having to negotiate comfort letters with seven different chartered accountant firms because Edelweiss’ auditors did not audit a number of its material subsidiaries. The entire deal from kick-off to closing only took eight weeks. I am very proud of our deal team, who worked almost round the clock at times to ensure the deal closed on schedule.”
Khaitan & Co. acted as Indian counsel to Edelweiss. Luthra & Luthra Law Offices acted as Indian counsel to the book running lead managers for the QIP.
