Law firm Khaitan & Co will be opening its Chennai office in the latter part of this year.
The focus of this office will be on advising clients on M&A, private equity and venture capital, general corporate, solvent and insolvent restructuring, private and public investments, real estate and dispute resolution matters including mediation, domestic and international arbitrations, it said in a statement.
Vivek Sriram (Partner, Corporate and M&A) and Arva Merchant, who has joined the firm on May 26, 2021, as Partner in the Dispute Resolution practice, will serve as the firm’s resident partners and representatives in Chennai.
Commenting on the new office in Chennai, Senior Partner Haigreve Khaitan said, ‘We believe that Southern India holds great promise for the firm, and it was only a logical choice for us to set up our presence in Chennai after Bengaluru to cater to our growing set of clients in this region.”
“We are extremely thrilled and looking forward to extending our support and exceptional service to all our existing and prospective clients on the ground. Vivek’s decision to anchor the Chennai office made it very easy to take the plunge. We are already in talks to expand our local talent pool including with some of our younger colleagues relocating to Chennai and focussing on setting up our customary state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and also forging new relationships,” he added.
Vivek’s expertise lies in advising international and domestic clients on structuring transactions, investment strategies, domestic and cross-border M&A, strategic alliances, joint ventures, private equity, venture capital investments, strategic buyouts and exits and general corporate matters.
He also has experience in appearing before the Madras High Court and other courts and tribunals in Chennai on matters relating to election law, corporate, commercial, and debt recovery laws.
Arva focusses on litigation, mediation and arbitration involving commercial and real estate laws. She appears before the Supreme Court, Madras High Court, various Arbitration Tribunals, amongst other fora.
She has worked extensively on commercial and real estate dispute matters involving joint ventures, joint development agreements, engineering contracts, financing agreements, RERA and IBC. She also works on civil and constitutional law matters.
The opening of the Chennai office is aligned with the firm’s broader strategic view of the Southern states of India being a solid base for a number of large and medium scale conglomerates and industries comprising of diverse sectors such as automobiles, textiles, cement, engineering and pharmaceuticals among others.
Through the new office in Chennai, the firm intends to work closely with its existing and prospective clients in Southern India, to meet their business needs and act as a trusted and strategic advisor.
Established in 1911, Khaitan & Co is a leading full-service law firm in India with over 750 fee earners and over 175 partners.
