IF THERE'S any major corporate acquisition, joint venture formation or company restructuring in India Inc., it will likely pass through the desk of Zia J. Mody, co-founder and managing partner of law firm AZB & Partners. “We acted for the most marquee deal of the year — the joint venture between Disney and Reliance (valued at $8.5 billion at that time). It was an extremely important and nuanced transaction cutting across practice areas and requiring interaction with regulators,” says Zia, daughter of Soli Sorabjee, the former Attorney General of India.
AZB & Partners’ other notable transactions during the year include the JV between Blackrock and RIL in the asset management space; representing BlackRock in the India part of its global acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and representing Bain Capital in its investment in L&T Finance Holdings. The firm also represented Air India in its acquisition financing deals for six A350-900s via GIFT City.
Zia, known as the ‘problem solver’ in corporate circles, also works towards strengthening the role of women in the legal space. “We bolstered our employment practice with senior practitioners joining our firm,” says Zia. “We did well in the forensic and investigation practice, as well as in the insolvency and bankruptcy corporate practice,” she adds.
The firm engages with clients with a deep dive into their verticals to cross-sell into the verticals. “We are examining AI and its use for the betterment of business and the benefit of clients,” says Zia. — Ashutosh Kumar