India 2025: The Emerging Powerhouse for Private Equity and M&A Deals

Thursday, January 16, 2025
(2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (IST))

 

INTRODUCTION:

Global deal-making in 2024 faced uncertainties much different from its predecessors: geopolitical instability caused by the ongoing Israel-Palestine and Russia-Ukraine disputes, pivotal elections in superpowers such as USA, rising interest rates causing significant risks of an impending global inflation, shifts in data protection laws worldwide, significant advancement of AI, and regulatory crackdowns against large conglomerates.

Despite these headwinds, reports have indicated that the year marked a ‘turnaround’ for global M&A, with the top 89 megadeals of 2024 being worth a combined USD 1 trillion approximately. India’s story is no different: gross FDI reached a total of USD 1 trillion since April 2000 (with a nearly 26% rise of FDI to USD 42.1 billion during the first half of the fiscal year 2024). Preliminary predictions showcase a positive sentiment of deal-making in India in 2025, majorly due to enhanced investor confidence, initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ that drive consumption, growth of digital infrastructure and increased acquisition opportunities.

Below are some key predictions that we will be discussing in the webinar:

  • Changing India-US trade relations: Dynamic Duo of Trump 2.0 and Modi 3.0
  • Initial public offerings’ Boom set to persist
  • Recommendations to ease PN3 restrictions
  • New Indian merger control landscape: Shift towards increased regulatory intervention
  • Heightened scrutiny in the Indian Financial Services sector: Bane or boon for foreign investors?
  • Changing rules for Public M&As
  • Warranty and Indemnity Insurance: A new era of diversified offerings
  • AI, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: Key drivers of deal-making
  • Sectors likely to gain momentum.

Suggested Readings

Flow of the session

02:00 PM to 02:45 PM (IST)

Panel Session

02:45 PM to 03:00 PM (IST)

Audience Q&A

 

Speakers:

Rajiv Jumani

Managing Director

Citi India Investment Banking

Rajiv Jumani is the Managing Director at Citi India Investment Banking, with over 18 years of expertise in executing complex local and cross-border transactions across diverse sectors. He has a deep understanding of corporate India, financial sponsors, and the deal-making landscape. Known for his result-oriented approach, Rajiv has consistently exceeded targets and built lasting relationships with global financial sponsors in private equity, real assets, and private credit. His experience spans M&A, capital markets, REITs & INVITs, financing, and banking solutions, including FX, escrow, and custody services, making him a trusted advisor in investment banking.

 

Nishchal Joshipura

Lead, M&A and PE Practice

Nishith Desai Associates

He heads the Private Equity and M&A practice at an India centric global law firm, Nishith Desai Associates. He is a Lawyer, Chartered Accountant and MBA (Finance) and is based out of Mumbai. He also heads the Finance Committee and the Remuneration Committee at Nishith Desai Associates. He has 23 years of work experience in advising Private Equity and M&A clients on cross border deals and investments from a strategic, legal and tax perspective. Prior to joining Nishith Desai Associates, he worked with Ernst & Young in the International Tax Group in Mumbai.

He has structured and lead several high profile deals in cross border M&A, Private Equity and Private Debt space and set up multiple offshore and domestic investment funds. He has successfully designed and implemented some of the most innovative structures for M&A, Private Equity and Private Debt deals and his structures have been consistently recognized as most innovative by Financial Times of London.

 

Harshita Srivastava

Co-Lead, M&A and PE practice

Nishith Desai Associates

She has extensive experience in advising clients on private equity, venture capital, joint ventures and cross border mergers and acquisitions. With background in fund formation and tax, she has been involved in some of the largest transactions and fundraises, acting for leading global private equity / venture capital funds and other institutional investors. She offers integrated and holistic advice from a legal, regulatory and cross-border tax perspective. As part of her role, she heads the Warranty & Indemnity Insurance vertical at NDA and advises a plethora of insurers globally in terms of underwriting large India focused deals. She also leads the Startup Practice of the Firm, where she represents global emerging growth technology companies throughout their lifecycle. She actively contributes to policy advocacy in terms of streamlining the regulatory framework for startups in India. As part of her policy advocacy efforts, she has been part of the SEBI committee instituted for the setup of the Innovators Growth Platform (listing platform for startups) in India.

 

Parina Muchhala

Member, M&A and PE Practice

Nishith Desai Associates

She has extensive experience representing leading global PE and VC funds in their cross-border investments into India, handling a wide range of complex legal transactions across small, mid, and large scale. As a member of the Warranty & Indemnity Insurance Practice Group at Nishith Desai Associates, she routinely advises international insurance companies on legal underwriting for India-focused transactions. She also frequently contributes to the thought leadership of the firm through varied articles on Indian corporate and competition law, which are regularly published in leading national and international publications.

 

Aditya Macedo

Member, M&A and PE Practice

Nishith Desai Associates

He has advised a broad spectrum of clients, including private equity funds and strategic investors, with respect to domestic and cross border transactions spanning private equity, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. His involvement in deals and fundraising initiatives across a wide array of sectors, ranging from information technology, media and entertainment, to aviation, financial services and defense, provides him with a diverse and commercial driven approach to deal making.