From left: Rowena De Sousa, Sambhav Ranka, Anita Jain, and Abhishek Pai
Sambhav Ranka, Rowena De Sousa, Anita Jain and Abhishek Pai, all formerly from IC Universal Legal, have established Aequitas Law Partners, a full-service law firm in Mumbai.
In an exclusive with India Business Law Journal, Ranka, one of the four founding partners at Aequitas Law, said, “I was waiting for the right time where I could have pivoted this [idea of launching a new firm].
“It came to a point where I decided that I would move on [and] while I made that decision, it was very easy.
“It was a personal choice [and] when there were certain other decisions, which came to my knowledge in terms of the other founding partners [who had] decided to quit, that is where we all connected.”
Ranka reveals that while all four partners left their previous work at IC Universal Legal independently, given their aligned vision, mission and values, Aequitas Law Partners was born.
“There were a lot of synergies in terms of what our thought processes were and we collectively decided to take that leap to get into a position where we are today.”
Ranka brings nearly two decades of experience in M&A, private equity and venture capital, with a strong track record in complex domestic and cross-border transactions.
De Sousa’s expertise covers private equity, M&A and corporate advisory, with deep insight into Indian and international markets.
Jain specialises in investment funds and regulatory practice, advising on onshore and offshore fund formation, including within GIFT City, as well as structuring and compliance strategies.
Pai brings more than a decade of experience as a company secretary, litigation lawyer and corporate transactional adviser. He has worked across governance, high-value private equity, venture capital, M&A transactions and disputes.
Together, they bring extensive expertise across M&A, private equity, venture capital, investment funds, asset management, regulatory advisory and general corporate practice.
Speaking of the firm’s range of expertise, Ranka said, “Predominantly we do everything in the corporate financial services and regulatory areas where we do everything from M&A to private equity to venture capital, everything on the transactional front.
“Secondly, we have a large practice in terms of representations when it comes to alternative investment funds, where we do everything from offshore to onshore to GIFT City as part of our regulatory practice, so we call it an asset management practice.”
“Thirdly, the general corporate is the broad heads, but beyond this, we have capabilities in terms of dispute resolution [and] in certain other practice areas.”
