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Shruti Bhat

Counsel

Shruti is qualified to practice law in India and is based out of the New Delhi office of Touchstone Partners.  She holds an undergraduate degree in commerce from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi and completed her LL.B. from Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 2012.  She joined Touchstone Partners in 2013 and currently focuses on antitrust and merger control matters for both domestic and international clients including multinational corporates and private equity investors, across a range of sectors.  She currently also advises on data privacy and protection matters.

Shruti previously worked on a range of mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, before pursuing a Fellowship with Teach For India.  As part of her Fellowship, she was placed in a government school in Delhi for two years where she worked with about 140 students across three grades and was responsible for implementing various strategies to improve their literacy levels.  During this time, she also started a project called The Bookworm Society (which she still continues to manage in her spare time) to make reading material more accessible for people from underprivileged backgrounds.  She joined the firm’s antitrust and merger control practice after completing her Fellowship and has since worked on a wide range of competition matters including leniency matters, merger control advisory, filing of information, antitrust compliance investigations and trainings, and general competition law advisory.  She has also worked on several data privacy and protection advisories.

Education

  • Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi (Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.), First Class), 2009
  • Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (Bachelor of Laws, First Class), 2012

Professional Qualifications

  • Admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi, 2012

‘Big-Tech Regulation: Biting Off More Than We Can Chew?’ (2023)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/big-tech-regulation-biting-off-more-than-we-can-chew/)

‘Beyond the Headlines: A Deep Dive into Settlements and Commitments’ (2023)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/beyond-the-headlines-a-deep-dive-into-settlements-and-commitments/)

‘The Crossroads of ESG collaboration and Competition Law’ (2022)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The-Crossroads-of-ESG-Collaboration-and-Competition-Law-Touchstone-Partners.pdf)

‘The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022’ (2022)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Digital-Personal-Data-Protection-Bill-2022-1.pdf)

‘Highlights of the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022’ (2022)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Highlights-of-the-Competition-Amendment-Bill-2022.pdf)

‘The Privacy Conundrum in Antitrust’ (2022)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Privacy-Conundrum-in-Antitrust.pdf)

‘Financial Investors and the Indian Merger Control Regime’ (2021)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Financial-Investors-and-the-Indian-Merger-Control-Regime.pdf)

‘CCI’s recent order conclusively dispels ambiguity over who can approach the Commission’ (2020) (as a contributor)
(https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/ccis-recent-order-conclusively-dispels-ambiguity-over-who-can-approach-the-commission/2074356/)

‘A Look at the Recent Developments in Competition Law in India’ (2020)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/A-Look-at-the-Recent-Developments-in-Competition-Law-in-India.pdf)

‘NCLAT judgment: CCI can’t be made hostage to locus standi’ (2020) (as a contributor)
(https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/nclat-judgment-cci-cant-be-made-hostage-to-locus-standi/1988913/)

‘Ten Years of the Indian Antitrust Regime’ (2019)
(https://touchstonepartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Ten-Years-of-the-Indian-Antitrust-Regime.pdf)

Select Competition & Antitrust Experience:

  • Advised HDFC Bank and HDFC Credila in obtaining merger control approval from the Competition Commission of India in relation to the proposed acquisition by the EQT group and ChrysCapital collectively of a 90% stake in HDFC Credila.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance in relation to the acquisition by HDFC Limited of certain additional shareholding in HDFC Life through on-market purchases.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance in relation to the acquisition by HDFC Limited of certain additional shareholding in HDFC ERGO.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance in relation to the amalgamation of HDFC Limited into and with HDFC Bank.
  • Advised a leading GCC sovereign wealth fund in obtaining merger control clearance in respect of the setting up of an infrastructure investment trust in the roads and highways sector, as well as for connected restructurings and investments.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for Reliance Industries Limited in relation to the acquisition by its indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the polyester business undertakings of two entities of the Shubhalakshmi group.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for Constantia Flexibles in respect of a transaction involving the acquisition of shares of certain India entities of Constantia Flexibles by S.B. Packagings and the issue of certain shareholding in S.B. Packagings to Constantia Flexibles.
  • Advised Huntsman Corporation in obtaining merger control clearance for the proposed acquisition of its textile effects business by Archroma Operations S.à.r.l.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited in relation to its acquisition of Exide Life Insurance Company Limited.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for Unifeeder, a subsidiary of DP World, in relation to its acquisition of certain entities of the Transworld group.
  • Advised a leading GCC sovereign wealth fund in obtaining merger control clearance in respect of a transaction involving the overseas listing of an Indian renewables company via the SPAC route.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for BP’s acquisition of shares in an entity owned by the Reliance group.
  • Advised Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in obtaining merger control clearance for the sale of its entire stake in Bombardier Transportation (Investment) UK Limited to Alstom S.A., and the subsequent acquisition of a minority stake in Alstom S.A.
  • Advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in obtaining merger control clearance in respect of the acquisition of 100% equity interest and joint control of Virtusa Corporation along with two other investors.
  • Advised and obtained merger control clearance for Cintra for its acquisition of a stake in IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited.
  • Advised a leading global auto-parts company in relation to an ongoing cartel investigation.
  • Advised leniency applicants in relation to cartel investigations in various sectors including conveyer belts, beer and railways.
  • Advised in relation to a cartel in the metals sector.
  • Conducted antitrust compliance audits for certain business verticals of a leading global manufacturing company.
  • Advised Whirlpool of India Limited in relation to antitrust compliance with respect to their joint venture with Elica S.p.A.
  • Advised Investcorp India in relation to gun jumping proceedings arising out of its acquisition of the real estate and private equity fund management businesses of IDFC Alternatives Limited.
  • Advised ReNew Power in relation to gun jumping proceedings arising out of non-disclosure by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board about a downstream investment by ReNew Power which was relevant to its investment in ReNew Power.

Select Data Privacy & Security Experience:

  • Advised a Canadian provider of investment / asset management services on data privacy compliance requirements in India.
  • Advised a Swiss multinational employment consultancy on the Indian data privacy aspects of collection and sharing of data of potential candidates.
  • Advised a German artificial intelligence start-up on Indian data privacy aspects including transfer of anonymised medical data available with Indian hospitals.
  • Advised an American security products provider on Indian data privacy aspects in relation to collection of data of Indian participants through mobile applications.
  • Advised an American multinational financial services corporation on the Indian data privacy aspects of utilising call centre recordings for developing quality control software.
  • Advised a global provider of data and insights on Indian data privacy and other regulatory aspects with respect to collection of information through various tools / channels for marketing purposes.
  • Advised a leading multinational fashion retailer on Indian data privacy and other regulatory aspects with respect to the setting up of their website in India and for their marketing and sales-related activities.
  • Advised an international non-governmental organization working for human rights on data privacy compliance requirements in India.