Private Equity

SPA Private Equity practice represents participants in all aspects of private equity investing throughout India. With a team of 5 professional all over India who specializes in buy as well as sell side of private equity transactions, we combine our corporate and financing expertise to provide clients with sophisticated and commercial advice. We actively do private equity transactions in most major industries, both regulated and non-regulated, including power & energy, technology and e-commerce, financial services, gaming, healthcare, media, pharmaceutical, satellite finance and investment, telecommunications and transportation.

Working with our clients from the earliest stages of a transaction, we assist in structuring, negotiating, and executing the full range of private equity transactions, including leveraged and management buyouts, “going-private” transactions and exit transactions. In our practice, SPA regularly acts for:

• private equity investors on negotiated acquisitions, public takeovers, buyouts and investments
• private equity investors, banks, underwriters, hedge funds and other finance providers on the financing of LBOs and similar transactions,
• public, private and family owned businesses engaging in transactions with private equity investors
• private equity investors and portfolio companies on recapitalizations, restructurings and exit transactions (including IPOs), and

Boards of directors and management teams in their roles in private equity transactions.

Mergers & Acquisitions

SPA’s Merger & Acquisition Group is a team of highly experienced professionals with specific skills and capabilities focused on the sale of closely-held businesses. This group goes the extra mile and has the roll-up the shirt sleeves mentality that must exist to successfully complete transactions.

SPA possesses particular strengths in advising companies in transactions. Our seasoned professionals have initiated several transactions in this market. Our experience covers most major industry groups and we are equally skilled at representing either buyers or sellers.

SPA provides general and special counseling in mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, leveraged buyouts, ESOPs and spin-offs of publicly-traded and closely-held companies. Our understanding of business industries and our range of specialist legal services allows us to deliver the best possible solutions to all of the major legal challenges that our clients encounter, maximizing potential benefits and minimizing risk exposure.

ESOP Advisory

An ESOP, Employee Stock Ownership Plan, is an employee benefit plan which allows the employees of the company to hold part ownership of the company and also become beneficiaries of the company's stock. An ESOP plan has many benefits including, but not limited to: increased employee pride and dedication, reduction in taxes, and the ability to receive loans in order to finance the plan.

SPA provides a variety of ESOP services for its clients every year. We have performed over 100 ESOP valuations, have been the exclusive advisor on many ESOP transactions, and have been appointed as the Merchant Banker to ESOP for numerous companies.

Even though there are many benefits with an ESOP plan, it is certainly no easy decision and it should be taken into close consideration. In order for a company to begin an ESOP, their stock price must first be appraised and analyzed in order to faithfully construct the ESOP payment plan. This can be even more difficult for non-publicly traded companies whose stock is not easily read from the stock market.

Because of these issues, it is highly recommended to get a third-party independent ESOP advisory from our firm. SPA has a number of skilled and knowledgeable professionals who can reliably offer their expert opinion on your company's potential ESOP.

Debt Restructuring & Financial Engineering

SPA has been instrumental in restructuring high cost debt for various organizations through take out financing mechanism or debt swap structures. Some of the key assignments executed by team SPA are:

• Advisors to KIOCL for Business Restructuring plan.
• Restructuring of high cost R.I.D.F loan totalling INR 20 Bln by takeout financing and asset transfer to APWRDC & APSRDC syndicated loan for Government of A.P.
• Swapping of INR 2 Bln high cost loan for ITI Ltd.
• Restructuring of high cost state guaranteed bonds amounting to INR 2 Bln for MPSEB.
• Restructuring of high cost state guaranteed bond amounting to INR 0.64 Bln for RSRDC.
• Host of leveraged debt transactions by securitizing future receivables for state entities and private corporates.