Squire Patton Boggs has advised the global coordinators and underwriters Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, CLSA and Yes Securities, as US counsel, on the Rule 144A US$175 million initial public offering by Varun Beverages Limited. Varun Beverages, which belongs to the RK Jaipuria group, is the largest franchisee of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages for PepsiCo outside the US. The RK Jaipuria group is a diversified conglomerate with interests in food and beverages, including fast food chains.
The Squire Patton Boggs team was led by US securities partner and co-head of the firm’s India practice Biswajit Chatterjee, assisted by senior associates Kaustubh George and Salil Rajadhyaksha, and associates Gowri Reghuvaran, Isha Malhotra and Anandee Banerji.
Steve Chelberg, Asia Pacific Chair of the Global Corporate Practice, commented: "We are committed to our clients in India and Asia, and this transaction is a good example of our ability to add value on cross-border transactions."
Ambassador Frank Wisner, senior international affairs advisor at the firm, said: “We congratulate Varun Beverages, the underwriters and our team on this most successful transaction. Squire Patton Boggs is proud of its rapidly growing India practice and looks forward to participating in future international securities offerings for Indian companies requiring high-quality legal services.”
The firm’s capital markets practice in Singapore completed more than 35 Rule 144A and Regulation S securities offerings of more than US$4 billion in 2015, including the first Indian IPO by a small finance bank (US$380 million Equitas IPO; largest IPO in India in 2016); the first IPO by an e-commerce company (Infibeam); the first IPO of a dairy company (Prabhat) and the proposed first IPO of a real estate company in five years (Paranjape). In 2015 and 2016, the team also advised on some of the most subscribed IPOs in Indian stock market history, Quess Corp (oversubscribed 147 times) and VRL Logistics (oversubscribed 74 times). The India-focused team is highly ranked by various international directories including Chambers & Partners, IFLR and Legal 500. The team has been ranked as a “Significant Player” by India Business Law Journal; and was awarded “International Capital Markets Law Firm of the Year 2015–2016” by Legal Era Awards.
