Photo of Ravi Shah

Partner in the General Corporate Practice at the Ahmedabad office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Ravi is dual-qualified in India and the UK having a wide range of experience working in both the jurisdictions. He primarily focuses on cross-border corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity and venture capital investments, advising national and international clients.

He has also assisted clients on a range of complex commercial agreements including international franchising arrangements, project management and consultancy agreements, technology and data-center infrastructure agreements. His experience spreads across sectors including pharmaceuticals & healthcare, technology, FMCG, manufacturing, infrastructure, defense and aviation. He can be reached at ravi.shah@cyrilshroff.com

Introduction

The Gujarat Public Universities Act, 2023 (“the Act”), came into effect on October 9, 2023[1], with the intent to unify the State legislation, governing 11 (eleven) public universities in Gujarat and any new public university that the Government of Gujarat (“GoG”) may constitute and notify (collectively, the “Universities”). The Act provides a common consolidated legislation for all Universities, aiming to provide better governance, improved academic standards, adequate representation through a democratic process, state of the art facilities and to transform, strengthen and regulate higher education in a more efficient manner.Continue Reading Gujarat Public Universities Act, 2023 – A step towards Unification?

The ability to undertake corporate restructuring and M&A through private or statutory arrangements has served as a touchstone in deal making globally. Statutory arrangements, at times, offer several advantages over contractual/ private arrangements. There are, however, several commercial, legal and tax considerations that have to be considered before opting between a statutory and private arrangement. The speed and ease with which a business can undertake an arrangement also plays an important part in such decision-making. In India, private arrangement is more popular than statutory arrangement for undertaking M&A as the latter is contingent on receipt of regulatory authorisation. Statutory arrangements in India were initially permitted only by way of National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”) approval.Continue Reading Mergers on a Fast-Track

Startup

Introduction

With nearly 82,000 start-ups and 107 unicorns, India is a significant player in the start-up ecosystem, putting it on the third spot globally.[1] In recognition of the value such start-ups add to a nation’s economy in terms of capital formation and employment opportunities, the Government of India (“GoI”) has launched multiple schemes such as Fund of Funds for Start-ups[2], Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme[3], etc. The GoI has committed funds to the extent of INR 7,385 crore for the start-ups at various stages under these schemes.Continue Reading Incentives for Start-Ups in Gujarat

Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream

In part 2 of this series of blogs (Key Features IFSC Lisiting Regulations in Relation to Listing of SPACs), we touched upon the newly-introduced framework for the issuance and listing of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) at the International Financial Services Centres (“IFSC”) under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Issuance and Listing of Securities) Regulations, 2021 (“IFSC Listing Regulations”). In this part of the blog we are going to look at the IFSC Listing Regulations with a critical eye to detect the gaps that continue to exist despite the framework being put in place and identify areas that can be improved upon to leverage the unique status of entities in IFSC.Continue Reading Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream: An Overview – Part 3

GIFT City

Introduction

 In the 2022-23 Union Budget announcements on February 1, 2022 (“Budget”), the Finance Minister introduced a proposal to allow the entry of world-class foreign universities and institutions in Gujarat International Financial Tec-City IFSC (“GIFT IFSC”), to offer courses in subjects pertaining to financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, to facilitate the availability of skilled human capital for financial services and technology[1]. The announcement is seen as a progressive step, giving further impetus to promoting GIFT IFSC as the preferred International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) globally.Continue Reading GIFT City Opens Doors for Entry of Foreign Universities in India

Opportunities for Foreign Universities in India

INTRODUCTION

Education is one of India’s most rapidly-growing sector, which is expected to be worth approximately USD 225 billion[1] by 2025. Enrolment in higher education institutions that stands at approximately 37.4 million[2] today, is estimated to grow by nearly 38% by the year 2030, with India potentially emerging as the single-largest provider of global talent where one in four graduates in the world could be a product of the Indian higher education system[3]. The Covid-19 pandemic has provided further impetus to this sector by increasing the acceptance of online education and opening fresh e-learning opportunities for national and international educational institutions. The Government of India (“GoI”) has also brought renewed focus on the education sector with the roll-out of the National Education Policy, 2020 (“NEP”), which lays down the future roadmap of education in India.Continue Reading Opportunities for Foreign Universities in India: A Regulatory Overview

Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream: An Overview – Part 2

In part 1 of this series of blogs (Role of IFSC in Indian SPAC Dream- An Overview), we succinctly summarised the various dimensions of IFSCs, viz. their ‘foreign territory’ status in India, applicable laws and regulation and the development of regulatory regime for special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) listings therein.Continue Reading Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream: An Overview – Part 2

Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream

India, being one of the major consumers of international financial services, has been pushing the envelope on making itself the hub for such services. With this objective, the Government of India had operationalised India’s first (and currently the only) International Financial Services Centre (“IFSC”) at GIFT Multi Services Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”) in Gujarat in April 2015. In this regard and to further this objective, the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act was enacted in December 2019 to set up a unified regulator, viz the International Financial Services Centres Authority (“IFSCA”), which commenced operation in October 2020. The IFSCA has been vested with the roles and powers of four domestic regulators, namely the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (“IRDAI”), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. IFSCA has been set up to develop and regulate financial institutions, financial services, and financial products within the IFSCs in India.Continue Reading Role of IFSC in the Indian SPAC Dream: An Overview – Part 1

USING SPAC VEHICLES AS A MEANS OF LISTING OUTSIDE INDIA

An overview 

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) have made a comeback on the Wall Street. SPACs are essentially investment companies backed by sponsors to raise capital from the public in an initial public offering (“IPO”) in the USA for the sole purpose of using the proceeds to acquire targets that are to be identified after the IPO. The eventual objective is to list the target. As of July 31, 2020, SPACs have raised close to USD 24 billion globally this year. The buzz around SPACs with available funding has reached Indian shores on the possibility of Indian companies being potential SPAC targets or Indian companies teaming up with SPACs to potentially list themselves in overseas markets.
Continue Reading Using SPAC Vehicles as a Means of Listing Outside India

Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020 A Renewed Focus on Attracting Investment

 

­­­­­­­­­The Indian economy has not been immune to the side-effects of COVID-19, particularly as far as the healthcare and financial systems are concerned. Amidst such global economic turbulence, the Indian government has made efforts to boost the economy by announcing a significant economic stimulus package under the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) scheme. Many state governments in India have also swung into action to incentivise investment and capitalise on the opportunity offered by the pandemic, wherein several global businesses heavily dependent on China are reconsidering their business continuity plans and looking at alternative manufacturing bases.

Gujarat has a distinct advantage in this area on account of its pro-business government initiatives, conducive business ecosystem and progressive infrastructure. The Government of Gujarat (“GoG”) is continuously pushing for reforms and has rolled out the red carpet to foreign investors looking to invest in the state, resulting in the state receiving the highest national increment of 240% in FDI inflows in financial year 2019-20 compared to the previous year.[1]
Continue Reading Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020: A Renewed Focus on Attracting Investment