Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advises Blackstone on the acquisition of International Gemological Institute (IGI) Group

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas acted as legal counsel for Blackstone Advisors India Private Limited (Blackstone) on its acquisition of International Gemological Institute Group (IGI Group). IGI Group is engaged in the business of grading and issuing certification reports relating to natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds, coloured stones, and jewellery. They have 29 laboratories and 18 education facilities in major diamond and jewellery centres around the world.

As part of the transaction, Blackstone, through its company in Singapore, BCP Asia II Topco Pte. Ltd., acquired the IGI Group through acquisition of the entire shareholding of International Gemological Institute India Private Limited, International Gemological Institute, Belgium, IGI Netherlands B.V. and their respective subsidiaries (11 in total) from its current shareholders Alpha Yu B.V. (part of Fosun Group) and Lorie Holding B.V (special purpose vehicle of Roland Lorie,). 

The General Corporate Practice of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised Blackstone on the transaction. The transaction team was led by Shishir Vayttaden, Partner; Aditi Singhvi, Partner; with support from Amanee Kadakia, Associate; and Sampurna Kanungo, Associate.

The legal diligence was led by Aditi Singhvi, Partner; with support from Alexander Kynjing, Consultant;Amanee Kadakia, Associate, Sampurna Kanungo, Associate; Anjali Kumari, Associate; Suja Nair, Associate; Gitika Lahiri, Associate; and Khushi Maheshwari, Associate.

The employment advisory and labour law related diligence was led by Bishen Jeswant, Partner; with support from Akash Mishra, Senior Associate; Anushka Dua, Associate; Siddhi Kochar, Associate; and Sonam Ambastha , Associate.

The real estate diligence was led by Mudit Shah, Partner; with support from Praharsh Vyas, Principal Associate; and Jainam Shah, Senior Associate.

The data protection and security aspects of the diligence was led by Arun Prabhu, Partner& Head - Technology & Telecommunications; with support from Arpita Sengupta, Senior Associate; Soumya Tiwari,Associate; and Sabreen Hussain, Associate.

Avaantika Kakkar, Partner & Head - Competition Law; and Kirthi Srinivas, Partner; advised on the competition law aspects of the transaction.

Other parties to the transaction included Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (acted as international legal counsel for Blackstone), KPMG (acted as financial and tax advisor for Blackstone), Deutsche Bank (acted as deal manager for sellers), Ernst & Young (acted as financial advisor for Alpha Yu B.V.), Deloitte Consulting (Shanghai) Company Limited (acted as financial advisor for Alpha Yu B.V.), and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (acted as  legal counsel for Alpha Yu B.V. ) and Trilegal (advised Alpha Yu B.V. from Indian legal perspective).

The Transaction was signed and closed on 19^th May 2023.

About Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas:

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (cam) is India’s leading law firm with a global reputation of being trusted advisers to its clients. The Firm advises a large and diverse set of clients, including domestic and foreign commercial enterprises, financial institutions, private equity and venture capital funds, start-ups, government and regulatory bodies. The Firm generalists, specialists and senior ex-regulators expertly guide clients across a spectrum of transactions, sectors and regulations. With 1000 lawyers and 160 Partners, the Firm is the largest full-service law firm in India and offices in key business centres at Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, GIFT City and also in Singapore.

The Firm recently received “Innovation in Advancing Markets” award at the FT Innovative Lawyers Asia Pacific 2022 Awards and the “National Law Firm of the Year: India” award at the IFLR Asia Pacific 2022 awards ceremony. The Firm had won “India Deal Firm of the Year” at the ALB India Awards and “Firm of the Year” at the IFLR1000 India Awards in 2021.