12 May, 2016
Duane Morris & Selvam LLP acted as U.S. legal counsel to the president of India on the sale of 1.25 billion shares in NHPC Limited for approximately Rs. 27 billion (US$406 million) in an offer for sale on the stock exchanges in India. The shares were sold pursuant to Regulation S and Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The shares sold represented 11.36 percent of the outstanding shares in NHPC Limited and reduced the president of India’s shareholding to 74.6 percent. NHPC Limited, an Indian hydropower generation company, is now compliant with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s minimum public shareholding norms, which mandate all public sector companies, except state-owned banks, to have at least a 25-percent public shareholding.
The Duane Morris & Selvam team was led by Jamie Benson, the head of Duane Morris & Selvam’s India practice desk and U.S. securities law practice. He is a U.S. corporate and securities lawyer with more than 19 years’ experience in international capital markets and cross-border M&A transactions. Benson has worked in New York, Sydney and London, and he is now based in Singapore. He has advised on more than 100 equity and debt offerings throughout the world with total proceeds of approximately US$19 billion.
Edelweiss Securities Ltd, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd and IDFC Securities Ltd managed the offering. Crawford Bayley & Co. acted as Indian legal counsel to the president of India and AZB & Partners acted as Indian legal counsel to the brokers.
