Two experienced Indian corporate lawyers, Gaurav Dayal and Amritha Salian, have joined leading Indian independent firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan to strengthen its corporate practice. 

The two new partners bring more than 20-years of combined corporate and M&A experience to the firm, according to Indian legal media. Dayal joined the firm’s Delhi office last month following a short stint as associate general counsel at OYO, a hotels group.

Dayal draws on extensive deal-making and private equity transactional experience, representing clients in multiple sectors including information technology, renewable energy, e-commerce, manufacturing and fast-moving consumer goods. 

He also regularly represents private equity and venture capital funds, multilateral agencies and strategic corporate clients. He has advised on a range of cross-border and domestic transactions, building on 11 years at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and legacy firms.

Meanwhile, Salian has joined Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan’s Bengaluru office from Kreo Partners. She previously spent almost three years as an associate partner at Themis Associates.

With more than 14-years’ experience as a corporate lawyer, Salian focuses likewise on private equity investments, acquisitions and commercial contracts. She also has experience advising on employment law matters as well as having experience in disputes and compliance.

N. Mathivanan, the firm’s principal partner and head of the corporate practice, told Indian legal media titles Legally India and Bar and Bench that the new hires were “exceptional additions”. Their arrivals, he said, “reflects our commitment to offering sophisticated, responsive and high-quality legal support to our clients on corporate advisory matters and transactions across our offices.”

He added: “Both of them bring excellent skill-sets and remarkable professional credentials complementing and strengthening our existing capabilities within the practice group.”

With Indian law firms dominating Mergermarket’s APAC M&A advisory league tables this year in what have been challenging conditions for corporate lawyers globally, others have also sought to build their practice ahead of any distress-related corporate activity. 

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan is not the only Indian firm to expand its corporate practice this year. In May, Trilegal hired two partners from rival firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to boost its Mumbai corporate practice.