Priti Suri

Priti Suri

Founder-Partner

Biography

Priti Suri, founder and managing partner, is a seasoned lawyer with over three decades of experience spread across three continents. Starting as a litigator, she evolved rapidly to become a business lawyer. Spanning a career just over 34 years, she has worked in the US (New York & Chicago) and Europe (Paris) before returning to India where she set up the firm and the practice. She holds the distinction of being appointed as “Special Counsel” to the State of Ohio, Office of Attorney-General. In April 2017, Priti was honored with the prestigious “Mayre Rasmussen Award” for the Advancement of Women in International Law by the American Bar Association in Washington D.C. She is the first Asian to receive this award in its 18-year history. She is been rated as one of India’s top 100 lawyers by India Business Law Journal for four consecutive years since 2016 and Indian Corporate Counsel Association has listed her as one of India’s top 100 corporate advisers.

A first-generational lawyer, her global experience has provided valuable insights to understand concerns and business realities on both sides so that projects can be closed successfully. She developed the firm and represented its international and domestic clients in the full range of cross-border M&A transactions, strategic investments, joint-ventures including tender and exchange offers as well as competition law. The deal size of her M&A representations is over USD 10 billion. She has counseled clients on venture capital financings, structured private equity deals, leveraged buyouts and divestitures. She continues to work closely with senior management of the firm’s clients, she counsels public and private companies on corporate governance, executive compensation, director responsibilities and fiduciary duties, general corporate advice, listing issues and project finance matters. A business lawyer, known for her pragmatic ability to get the deal done, her industry experience covers clients operating in many different sectors, including aerospace, automotive, chemicals, defense, energy, infrastructure, media, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, telecom and technology.

In the past, she authored two books published by LexisNexis Butterworths.

An active member of the international bar, Priti is currently on the Board of International Technology Law Association. She has chaired the India Committee of American Bar Association’s International Law Section for two years and was its senior adviser till August 2018 when the Committee was integrated into a larger regional committee. In addition, she is the immediate past Chair of the Women Business Lawyers’ Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, where she headed the committee for four years and is currently the Chair of IPBA’s Publications Committee. Priti has been instrumental in the formation of Society of Women-Lawyers–India and is its current President. SOWL-India is the first platform of its kind to aid women legal professionals address the evolving challenges of a changing legal market place. Priti remains deeply engaged to ensure that young women who want to practice international law have a platform and to do so and, to that end, has been instrumental in gender sensitization and equality while promoting sustainability of women in the law.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Advised a NYSE listed US conglomerate on the sale of its Indian operations as part of a global business sale, where the Indian component had both an asset and a stock sale of two Indian companies with different triggers, application of different laws to ensure a smooth closing
  • Counseled a NYSE listed leading global provider and manufacturer of office furniture in its entry in India by a stock acquisition of over 95% stake in a public Indian company, with operations in two different states, involving different laws
  • Acted for one of the world’s largest steel conglomerates in an inbound investment in India where the value was in excess of USD 900 million
  • Represented a US publicly traded chemical company on the Indian part of the divestiture of its global business worth about USD 1.8 billion
  • Advised a listed Japanese company end-to-end on an indirect acquisition of a listed entity in India with tax planning and advising on acquisition from public shareholders of the Indian subsidiary pursuant to an open offer under takeover regulations
  • Represented a telecom company in its market entry and negotiations with the state companies in setting up of a satellite for hand-held mobile communications
  • Acted for several large French multinationals in the acquisition of technology businesses in UK and India, as well as US and India involving complex structuring issues and ensured successful closure so clients could attain business goals of establishing footprints in different countries
  • Counseled a US based private-equity fund on structuring, compliance and registration issues in USD 900 million LBO in Asia with a substantial inflow of money in the Indian subsidiary
  • Represented private equity investors on a host of issues in a USD 300 million transaction where two US companies merged and inherited listed Indian companies
  • Counseled a US publicly traded chemical company in its restructuring to hive-off a particular oil & petroleum business vertical to various new subsidiary entities, involving creative structuring to handle capital gains tax related issues
  • Counseled a large French telecom multinational, prepared detailed documentation in French while analyzing global tenders between French multinationals and state entities including various governments in South-East Asia and Africa
  • Represented a listed Chinese company in its purchase of equity shares of the Indian operations of a European parent company in the transport business
  • Acted for several clients across manufacturing and service industries in devising and implementing compliance programs spanning several applicable laws, including anti-corruption and competition law while working closely with senior management and on-ground teams to ensure change in the culture, provided solutions to issues confronted by the operational teams and assisted in bringing about a radical shift in the compliance mindset
  • Advised large and mid-sized US corporations in ICC and AAA arbitrations exceeding values of USD 100-500 million in a wide range of sectors
  • Counseled a European multinational with a presence in 65 countries and a yearly turnover of USD 10 billion, on its Indian investment options including structuring and securing regulatory approvals in a record time of less than 3 weeks
  • Advised one of the world’s largest container terminal operators on the impact of their global restructuring in their existing concession agreements with Indian ports and successfully secured the necessary regulatory approvals from the relevant administrative ministries while balancing short timelines with governmental protocol
  • Advised a listed European company on competition issues in the context of a proposed US acquisition leading to equity stake in Indian subsidiaries and the related merger control implications
  • Advised a large freight forwarding company in acquisitions involving multiple jurisdictions – US, India, France, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh
  • Advised a consortium of Japanese, European and Indian entities in varied contracts with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
  • Counseled French and German companies in negotiations with Indian government in public-private partnerships for developing and financing infrastructure projects in India by means of different models including BOT, BLT or BRT, BOO etc.
  • Participated in and advised an Indian company engaged in the digital mapping and satellite navigation space in start-to-finish several rounds of investments funding of more USD 50 million from strategic and financial investors
  • Successfully advised and won a dispute for a subsidiary of large French energy corporation against a state entity with values of half a billion Euros between the claim and the counter-claim
  • Representing an infrastructure company in a PPP World Bank-assisted USD 100 million toll bridge project in Delhi in connection with land acquisition by Delhi Government which involved review and settling compensation claims
  • Representing American and European entities on regulatory and liability issues emerging from conducting clinical trials, import of drugs, cosmetics, import laws and procedures, pricing of medical devices and drugs
  • Representing a large French multinational in the automotive sector in all its Indian operations, acquisitions and joint-ventures with investments close to Euros 500 million
  • Advised several European services/technology/engineering/aerospace companies in their acquisitions in India where the structuring was through purchase of US or UK operations with values between Euros 25-150 million
  • Advised and assisted French and North American defence OEMs in negotiating the terms of RFPs in defence acquisition by the Indian armed forces 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Active within the domestic and international legal community, Priti is currently

  • Board member of International Technology Law Association
  • Vice-Chair of the Publications Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and Immediate Past Chair of IPBA’s Women Business Lawyers’ Committee
  • Past Chair of the India Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and its current Senior Adviser
  • Co-founder member and President of Society of Women Lawyers–India, platform for women  lawyers across India
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