Puja Sondhi is a Partner with the General Corporate practice at the Firm with a focus on M&A/PE/VC.

Puja is a leading advisor with expertise in foreign investment and regulatory affairs, India market-entry strategy, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, PIPE deals, public M&A and corporate restructuring. Puja has successfully closed numerous complex, path-breaking and award-winning transactions requiring innovative structuring, regulatory expertise and a solution-oriented approach across diverse sectors.

She has developed a strong “emerging companies” practice, focused on growth capital, spanning a broad range of new-age businesses including inter alia retail & e-commerce, digital media, e-pharmacy, online gaming, mobility solutions, fintech, lifestyle & health. Puja has advised extensively on both founder/company mandates and investor mandates, having acted for Grofers, NewsCorp, Inshorts, IndiaMart, Norwest Venture Partners, SAIF Partners, IDFC Alternatives, International Finance Corporation, Raine group and QInvest.

Puja is recognised as a thought leader in the Retail & E-commerce sector, having advised industry bodies investors and investee companies on fundraising, structuring their business in compliance with evolving regulatory norms, obtaining regulatory approvals and on policy issues. Her clients have included Internet & Mobile Association of India, Grofers, Walmart, Flipkart, Snapdeal, IndiaMart, PropTiger and Bose, among others.

Select Experience Statement

• Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited on their acquisition of Retail & Wholesale Business and the Logistics & Warehousing Business of the Future Group and investment by Reliance in the residual Future Enterprises’ business, in a deal valued at US$ 3.6 billion. This is the largest deal involving the brick and mortar retail sector in India until date.
• Grofers, one of the largest online grocery players on its business structuring, corporate restructuring, regulatory matters and multiple fundraises aggregating to over US$ 470 million from inter alia SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Apoletto Asia, KTB Network, Abu Dhabi Capital Group, Bennet Coleman.
• Walmart on its US$ 16 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in Flipkart, making it the largest private equity and venture capital exit in India.
• Nestle Skin Health on the India leg of the US$ 10.1 billion global sale of its business to a consortium comprising EQT, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
• Norwest Venture Partners, a US$ 9.5 billion private equity fund, on multiple investments including in Veritas Finance (NBFC), SILA Solutions (facilities management), OFB Tech (online B2B).

A detailed experience statement can be shared on a confidential basis.

Professional Membership

• New York State Bar
• Delhi High Court Bar Association

Education

• B.A. LL.B, (Honors), National Law School of India University Bangalore, India
• LL.M, Degree (Corporate Law), New York University School of Law, New York, US (Hauser Global Scholar)