AZB & Partners and Kirkland & Ellis have advised global venture capital fund General Catalyst on its acquisition of India-focused early-stage investor Venture Highway, with the aim of establishing a $500 million to $1 billion investment platform in the country.
The new entity will be called General Catalyst India and will focus on early- and growth-stage investments in the country.
“The combined capabilities of the two firms will allow us to be much more hands-on and effective going forward in India. I am especially excited about bringing our co-creation capabilities to India,” said Hemant Taneja, chief executive of General Catalyst.
Venture Highway has investments in startup Meesho, e-commerce platform Moglix and HR-tech startup BetterPlace.
The AZB deal team comprised senior partner Ashwath Rau, partner Aditya Alok, senior associate Shivani Goel, and associate Shubhi Maheshwari.
They were supported by partner Ajay Singh Solanki and associate Shloka Jain on employment law aspects; senior associate Rashmee Kumar on IP aspects; and senior associate Saras Muzumdar and associate Nandita Varshney on the regulatory aspects.
The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Christian Atwood and associates Halley Peterson and Sydney Hood, investment funds partners Jon Lipnick and Mat Eapen and associates Tom Kelley and Afsha Lakdawala Chowdhury, investment funds regulatory partners Alpa Patel and Chris Pristouris, and tax partners Lee Morlock and Brandon Short.
