Ashurst handed key role on Indian IPO

Ashurst has been instructed on its first Indian IPO, advising on the $400m (£196.80) flotation of Rural Electrification Corporation on India's Bombay and National stock exchanges.

Ashurst handled the US securities law aspects of the float, working alongside Indian firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co.

Robert Ogilvy Watson, a corporate partner in Ashurst's India practice group, said: "We're very pleased with this instruction, which has gone extremely well, and we have other instructions and an ongoing mandate in India."

He added that completion of the other transactions would depend on market conditions.

The flotation of Rural Electrification Corporation, a government of India-owned financial institution that provides financing for power projects throughout India, was nearly 30 times oversubscribed and valued the company at over $2bn (£980m).

The Ashurst team was led by US corporate partner Daniel Bushner and senior associate Stuart Rubin along with associate Padmini Singla. The team also included Ogilvy Watson and associate Anmol Nayyar of Ashurst's India practice group.

Ogilvy Watson added: "We've had a long history with India and we've had an Indian liaison office for a long time - we're not newcomers. But frankly until very recently it wasn't a particularly vibrant market but we feel very much that we're in for the beginning of something here."