Two top SAM equity partners to move to JSA with entire team

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 07 Jun 2024
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J Sagar Associates (JSA), a full-service law firm is all set to bring on board Iqbal Khan and Ambarish, who are part of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas’ (SAM) private equity, and mergers and acquisition practice. The duo’s team of 19-20 PE and M&A lawyers, including Tanavi Mohanty, Devika Menon and Ashid Basheer, would also be joining JSA.   

Iqbal and Ambarish moving with the large team is a testament to the structure of JSA where all partners are given a chance to grow, said Amit Kapur and Vivek K Chandy, joint managing partners, J Sagar Associates.  

Khan, an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science and Columbia University School of Law has been associated with SAM for more than nine years. He has previously worked with Khaitan & Co. and foreign law firms such as Paul Weiss and Kirkland & Ellis.  

In his stint with SAM, Khan advised global financial sponsors such as Advent, Apax, Brookfield and TPG and companies like Amazon, Asian Paints, Biocon, PharmEasy, Reliance Industries Ltd and Tata Group.

He specialises in private equity investments, private and public mergers and acquisitions (domestic and cross-border), joint ventures and foreign investment laws.  

Ambarish, who is an alumnus of National Law University, Jodhpur, has been working with the firm as a partner since 2018. He has advised sovereign wealth funds, private equity investors, strategic foreign investors, and Indian corporations in complex mergers and acquisitions.   

Notably, Ambarish was part of private equity player Advent International’s acquisition of Suven Pharmaceuticals.  

JSA, which was one of the top law firms in India for private equity and venture capital dealmaking in 2023 in a VCCircle analysis, was founded in 1991 and has its presence across seven offices in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.