Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised Blackstone in its investment in Aakash Educational Services Limited

Singapore VII Topco I Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of funds, advised/managed by the affiliates of the Blackstone Group Inc. (Blackstone), acquired 51% shareholding (on a fully diluted basis) in Aakash Educational Services Limited (Aakash), by way of inter-connected and inter-dependent steps, subject to certain terms and conditions mutually agreed between the parties.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co (SAM & Co) advised Singapore VII Topco I Pte. Ltd. in this deal.

The Competition Law practice at SAM & Co acted as the lead legal counsel to Blackstone and were involved in preparing and filing of the Form I notification with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and responded to the queries raised by the Commission.

SAM & Co also advised Blackstone on strategy, structuring of the transaction and obtained an unconditional approval from the CCI. The Form I was filed with the CCI on 5 August 2019 and the transaction was unconditionally approved by the CCI on 6 September 2019.

The SAM & Co. competition team was led by Ms. Gauri Chhabra, Partner and assisted by Ms. Kajori De, Associate.

Trilegal team led by Partners Mr. Arjun Ghose and Mr. Anirudh Agarwala represented Blackstone on the corporate aspect of the transaction. Simpson Thacher & Barlett LLP acted as counsel for global anti-trust for Blackstone.

S&R acted as the legal advisors for Aakash for the corporate and competition aspects of the transaction.