14 Acquisition International - Issue 8 2018 In early July, Sameena Chatrapathy, a partner from IC Universal Legal, was named in Acquisition International Magazine’s 2018 Leading Adviser Awards Programme with the title of ‘Leading Private Equity and Venture Capital Adviser of the Year’. IC Universal Legal, is a full-service law firm with over 100 members in their seven offices across India and Sameena works with the Firm’s Chennai office. On the back of this achievement, we spoke to Sameena to find out how she has become an expert voice in the field. C Universal has long-established itself as a stalwart of the Indian legal landscape, with offices across Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. With these bases as a firm foundation and its affiliation to the Chugh Firm in the US, IC Universal has built a reputation as being a highly-regarded global presence, with partners and attorneys who have studied, and practiced, in countries around the world. Sameena takes a moment to emphasise the firm’s breadth of expertise, “We as a firm pride ourselves on the varied profile of our clients and the wide gamut of legal services including advice on day-to-day legal issues, diverse corporate legal affairs, formation of legal entities in India and overseas, corporate transactional matters, intellectual property rights, commercial contracts and real estate. We also provide end-to-end transactional assistance by, on one hand advising national and international funds and investors in identifying investment targets, formulating funding structure, conducting due diligences, preparation and negotiation of transaction documents and assisting through pre and post transaction regulatory compliance and on the other hand, working very closely with companies and promoters ranging from start-ups doing their HNI and Series A fund raises right up to larger established business conglomerates raising advanced funding rounds.” Sameena has been a member of the firm since its inception in Chennai in 2006, while still being an undergrad student and also went on to complete her Masters from the United Kingdom in 2009. Utilising her expertise in International Commercial Law, which was the focus of her Master’s degree, she has become the lead member of the Corporate and Transactional Team at IC Universal Legal. She believes, “To be successful as an organisation, the focus is usually two-fold; one – to be always driven to deliver to clients with zest and enthusiasm, and the other, to be able to constantly evolve and develop as a team to propel and sustain growth.” Since joining ICUniversal, Sameena hasmade a striking impression in the field of private equity transactions, representing both domestic and foreign funds through multiple rounds of investments in India and overseas. Contact: Sameena Chatrapathy, Partner Company: IC Universal Legal Location: 4th Floor, South Wing, Kakani Towers, #34, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 006 Contact Number: +44 4218 7856/57 Email Id:
[email protected] Web Address: www.icul.in A Leader in Private Equity Advisory I 1808AI24 Touching back on the subject of IC Universal, Sameena talks us through the firm’s work ethic and approach to new clients, “Our work over the past decade has been our strongest marketing tool, where our access to new clients and varied work stems from introductions made by existing clients and therefore, the introduction itself comes with a certain relationship and expectation. We then start off on any new client engagement with an approach that we are here to provide business solutions that matter in a timelymanner, not as an external advisor, but as a part of the team, always providing the comfort that we understand closely the issues, challenges and requirements, thereby accordingly delivering practical solutions.” “Our experience and the principles ingrained in our team make us extremely amenable to the requirements of a client in terms of timelines, negotiation push and the nature and structure of documentation. Therefore, our core philosophy is to ensure that we are easily accessible to our clients and are always willing to go beyond the call of duty to get the job done.” Naturally, for a Firm that has worked to expand its presence, the future of IC Universal Legal is defined by doing much of the same with increased vigour and commitment, “We don’t propose to do anything substantially different from what we have done in the past, which has largely defined our every day journey. However, we would like to see the Firm grow from strength to strength fuelled by the growth of each individual team member, at whatever level, in terms of potential, confidence and capability, and we look forward to using this to be able to partner with clients on challenging, newer and more complex assignments.” Sameena continues on a final note showcasing the Firms’ initiatives on corporate social responsibility stating that, “Additionally, we are also focusing our energies on corporate social responsibility, giving back to the community that is giving us so much. Towards this, we have commenced work in a more streamlined and impactful manner to contribute to the under privileged and we would like to further expand this, not only in terms of dedicating time and money, but also to be able to voice awareness on prevention against sexual harassment and providing advise on a pro-bono basis to people in tough situations who cannot afford quality legal service.” C M Y CM MY CY CMY K SBGK_IPdirectory_A5_0202_X_20%.pdf 1 2/3/15 3:39 PM