Akila has over 20 years of experience in matters pertaining to mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate restructuring and general corporate advisory. She has extensively handled acquisitions, disposals, takeover offers, delisting offers, commercial contracts, and SEBI related matters. She specialises in public M&A. Akila has considerable national and international experience having served several significant clients across a broad range of industries and sectors.
1999 B.A.,L.L.B (Hons), National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
Expertise
Practice Areas
General Corporate
Sectors
IT/ITES
E-Commerce
Financial Services
Media & Entertainment
Food & Beverage
Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare & Life Sciences
Relevant Representation
Oracle Corporation on the acquisition of 43% stake in iFlex Solutions Limited.
FedEx Corporation on its acquisition of Prakash Air Freight Private Limited and AFL Private Limited.
The Government appointed board of Satyam Computer Services Limited on the public bid and sale of majority stake in the company to Tech Mahindra.
Fresenius Kabi in its acquisition of Dabur Pharma Limited, parental drugs business of Goa Formulations Limited and the India businesses of Fenwal Inc; sale of its sterile manufacturing business to Puniska Injectables.
GE in its delisting offer of GE Transportation Financial Services; transfer of their loan assets portfolio to Shriram Transport Finance; investment in Birla Soft Limited; spin-off of its global engineering division and sale of its security business to UTC; and transfer of its nuclear business in India to EDF.
Alstom SA and Schneider Electric in its indirect acquisition of Areva India and their joint open offer to the public shareholders of Areva India; and global sale of Alstom’s thermal power business to GE.
Siemens AG in connection with its voluntary open offer to the public shareholders of Siemens India Limited.
Citigroup and DSP Merrill Lynch, on the buy-back offer made by Reliance Industries Limited.
PVR Limited in its acquisition of Cinemax India and consequent mandatory tender offer; acquisition of DT Cinemas; the sale of shares by Mr. Bijli to Warburg Pincus; and the sale of their BluO Entertainment business to Smaash Entertainment Limited.
DLF Limited in the sale of 40% promoter stake in its commercial real estate arm to GIC Singapore; DLF Brands in the transfer of its Mother’s Pride, Lens Crafters and Sunglass Hut businesses to Reliance Retail.
The Coca-Cola Company in its M&A transactions in India.
Mastercard in relation to its investment in Pine Labs Pte. Ltd.
Persistent System in its acquisition of MediaAgility India, Shree Infosoft and Data Glove IT Solutions.
The Promoters of ZEE Entertainment in the offloading of their stake to Oppenheimer Fund and other investors through off-market and on-market transactions.
Philips India Limited in the demerger of its lighting business; Philips KPNV in the demerger and sale of its domestic appliances business to Hillhouse Capital;
Signify in its acquisition of the global lighting business of Eaton Corporation
Escorts Limited in its strategic venture with Kubota Corporation.
Sanmina Corporation in its joint venture with Reliance.
Azim Premji Trust in its various investments in India.
Principal Group in transfer of its mutual funds business to Sundaram Mutual Funds.
Krafton, Inc. in its investments in Talent Unlimited (Bobble), Nasadiya Technologies, Nautilus Mobile App and Mebigo Labs.
Evosys Group in selling its middle eastern business to Mastek UK Limited.
eClerx LLC in its acquisition of Eclipse Global Holdings.
Allen Career Institute Private Limited in its strategic venture with Bodhi Tree Systems.
Alghanim Industries in the sale of its stake in Rockwool India Private Limited to Saint-Gobain India Private Limited.
Lear Corporation in its acquisition of the India business of Kongsberg Automotive.
Pernod Ricard India in its minority acquisition in Aarti Distilleries.
Stone Point LLC in its acquisition of Duff & Phelps.
Awards & Recognition
Ranked ‘Band 3’ Chambers and Partners, 2023
‘A- List’ Lawyer at IBLJ’s Top 100 Lawyers, 2023
Ranked ‘Notable Practitioner’ for M&A; Private Equity at IFLR 1000, 2023, featured for several years
‘Distinguished Practitioner’ at Asialaw, 2022 for Corporate M&A, featured for several years
‘Leading Lawyer Champions’ at Legal Era Leading Lawyers Rankings, 2022
Consistently ranked in Chambers & Partners Global and Chambers Asia Pacific for Corporate and M&A practice for several years
‘Recommended Lawyers’ at Legal500, 2022
Who’s Who Legal India names her as a global leader and thought leader in M&A