REITs in India - Some predictions for the next 24 months

 

  • Tenant-landlord dynamics are likely to change. In the short term, tenants may seek dispensation, moratoriums or discounts to their payment obligations, on the grounds of force majeure or otherwise. In the medium term, there will be an expectation from developers to increase spend on social wellness and hygiene infrastructure.
  • The forced experiment of remote working may become a norm for certain businesses and have an impact on the flexi-working policies of all businesses, one way or another. As a result, tenants may reassess their space utilisation requirements, and developers, their ability to offer IT infrastructure, which can enable seamless connectivity for their tenants.

Continue Reading REITs in India: Some predictions for the next 24 months (and beyond)

Supreme Court denounces speculative litigation seeking to resist enforcement of foreign awards

Introduction

Over the years, Indian Courts have increasingly limited their interference with arbitral awards. This approach of non-interference is more so when it comes to enforcement of foreign awards under Section 48 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) as has been reaffirmed in a recent judgment of the Supreme Court in Vijay Karia (“Appellants”) and Ors. v. Prysmain Cavi E Sistemi SRL & Ors[1] (“Respondents”).

In this case, the Supreme Court had occasion to consider an appeal against the order of a single judge of the Bombay High Court, allowing enforcement of a London seated foreign award (“Foreign Award’). In doing so, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and came down heavily on the Appellants for engaging in speculative litigation and attempting to invoke the limited powers of the Supreme Court under Article 136[2] only to resist enforcement of the Foreign Award. Continue Reading Supreme Court denounces speculative litigation seeking to resist enforcement of foreign awards

Fractional Deregulation - Spurring The Nuclear Doctrinaire

India is yet to come of age as far as the nuclear sector is concerned due to sustained lack of support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (“IAEA”), and exclusion from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (“NPT”) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (“NSG”). In 2014, a few nuclear reactors like Narora, Kudankulam and Kakrapar were brought under the IAEA safeguards. However, the Additional Protocol of 2014 allowed the IAEA enhanced access to India’s facilities, but this was limited to only the reactors included under the safeguards. As a result, a majority of nuclear power plants in the country are still untapped, which has led to a bearish curve in the investment inflows in the country, on account of lack of both financial commitments and savvy technology.

Globally, the United States of America (“US”), France, Russia, South Korea and China are also among the biggest nuclear power generating countries[1]. Out of their energy pool, nuclear energy comprises of one-fifth of the energy usage for US and Russia, seventy five percent for France, thirty percent for South Korea and four percent for China.[2] For India, nuclear energy consists of three percent of its energy pool, and is predicted to rise to six percent by 2030[3]. Continue Reading Fractional Deregulation: Spurring The Nuclear Doctrinaire

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Real Estate’s ride through Covid-19 and way forward

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, referred to as Covid-19, has struck at the roots of some of the world’s largest countries. After WHO declared Covid-19 a Pandemic (the “Pandemic”), many countries announced measures to contain its spread. In what is considered as a timely step, Government of India on March 24, 2020 imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown (“Lockdown”) under the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005 (“DMA”) (which is likely to get extended further), during which various establishments including malls, offices etc., were directed to suspend their operations. Continue Reading Real Estate’s ride through Covid-19 and way forward

Conditional or unconditional stay, that is the question – The fate of arbitral awards in India, pending challenge

Background

Ever since the enactment of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Arbitration Act”), arbitral awards have been statutorily granted the same status as a decree of a civil court by way of a deeming fiction under Section 36 of the Arbitration Act. Up until the amendment of the Arbitration Act in 2015, the filing of an application challenging an arbitral award had the effect of an automatic stay on the enforcement of the award. The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (the “2015 Amendment Act”) changed this, by mandating a separate application to be filed seeking stay of the award, which may (or may not) be granted by the court, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit. Continue Reading Conditional or Unconditional Stay, That is the Question – The Fate of Arbitral Awards in India, Pending Challenge

Short-and-Long-term-Impact-of-Current-Market-Conditions-–-Part-II

Commercial and legal impact

In the previous part of this publication, we had set out an overview of the current market scenario and economic slowdown across key global markets, in view of factors such as global economic concerns, the COVID-19 pandemic as well as India-specific concerns such as the collapse of Yes Bank and pressure on Indian industries. We now evaluate the commercial and legal impact of these events on capital market transactions and highlight the key commercial and regulatory considerations for companies considering such transactions. Continue Reading Short and Long-term Impact of Current Market Conditions – Part II

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Control Premium: Analysis of Recent Top Deals and What 2020 is Likely to See

While of all us are getting used the to the new normal and are hoping that the worst will be behind us soon, we thought it would be great to share with you (i) our analysis of control premium paid in top takeover transactions of publicly traded companies in the last three financial years, and (ii) our thoughts on the way pricing trends will shape up in 2020 and what regulators should do about the current pricing regime for M&A transactions.

Part A deals with our analysis of ‘control premium’ paid in top 20 control deals (involving tender offers) in each of the last three financial years, aggregating to a total of top 60 control deals. Part B deals with the broad parameters of the way regulatory regime should change to allow pricing flexibility and exemption from open offer so that the regime is more contextual to enable deal making in the current market situation; we call it the ‘Deal Freedom’. Continue Reading Control Premium: Analysis of Recent Top Deals and What 2020 is Likely to See 

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Buy-Backs by Listed Companies - Key Considerations

A listed company proposing to undertake a buy-back is required to primarily comply with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (the “Companies Act”) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 2018 (the “SEBI Regulations”). However, a listed company is also required to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (the “SEBI Takeover Regulations”), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 and other applicable securities laws including in other jurisdictions.

As explained in our earlier blog, as prescribed in the SEBI Regulations, a listed company may undertake a buy-back of its shares and other specified securities through any of the following methods: (a) from the existing holders of securities on a proportionate basis through a tender offer; (b) from the open market either through the book building process or through the stock exchange mechanism; or (c) from odd-lot holders. Continue Reading Buy-Backs by Listed Companies: Key Considerations

COVID-19 - Temporary Relaxations for Corporate Compliances

The global outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented event that has led to lockdowns and unexpected restrictions on the public as well as the corporate sector across the world. In order to control its spread, the Government of India (GoI) has inter alia ordered all establishments, except organisations providing essential goods and services, to temporarily close their physical offices. Employees are working remotely, but due to difficulties faced in coordination and lack of office facilities, companies are likely to face difficulties in undertaking timely compliances of various applicable laws. Keeping in mind the aforesaid, the GoI has temporarily relaxed a number of compliance requirements for the corporate sector. We have analysed below some of the major relaxations from securities and companies law perspective. Continue Reading COVID-19 – Temporary Relaxations for Corporate Compliances

COVID 19 - Online Courts in India

Work from home for a litigating lawyer in India currently looks like endless hours of reading, chores and on-demand video. In this blog, we argue that this will be a short-lived state of affairs. Remote working for litigation will be operationalised soon and will become the new normal for litigating lawyers in the not too distant future.

Courts are an essential service for civil society. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, courts across the country have gone into an urgent-only, online-only mode with electronic filings, email mentions and, in exceptional cases, online hearings via video conferencing/ video calling facilities. This urgent only model of restricted judicial access is not sustainable past the initial lockdown. Courts will have to resume a full-time case load in the near future, albeit in a form that will be quite different from the way as we knew it. The urgent-only format will come to pass, with courts adopting the online-only format for its regular functioning. As a first step, the Supreme Court of India issued a suo-motu order yesterday setting out guidelines for courts to function through video conferencing during the COVID 19 Pandemic. Continue Reading From the Gavel to the Click: COVID 19 poised to be the inflection point for Online Courts in India