Avaantika Kakkar

Practice Areas

Avaantika Kakkar

Partner (Head - Competition Law) Competition/Antitrust

Avaantika is a highly experienced antitrust advisor in India. She advises on complex merger notifications and represents her clients before the Commission, the Appellate Tribunal, and Courts.

She was lead lawyer in the first Phase II merger control case in India (Sun Pharma/Ranbaxy) and in the first few cases involving remedies (Hospira/Orchid, ZF Friedrichshafen AG/TRW Automotive) at the CCI. She argued mitigated damages for Titan International, Inc. and secured a zero-penalty order for Grupo Isolux Corsán for delayed merger filings.

Her practice includes strategic advice for her clients in merger defence and enforcement as well as leading third-party objections to certain mergers before the CCI.

Her experience in Indian corporate and securities laws, transactional work in M&A, private equity, joint ventures, and structured finance equips her uniquely for strategy on merger regulation. She was among the first Indian lawyers to start practicing Indian Competition law in 2009, when the law came into effect.

On the enforcement side, Avaantika advises on commercial arrangements, vertical restraints including resale price maintenance, and the abuse of dominance. Her team works extensively on internal investigations and compliance. She was involved with filing the first few leniency applications in India and has vast experience assisting clients during ‘dawn’ raids by the CCI. Her team leads defence on major cartels in India including the beer cartel and the cement cartel investigations.

She has experience in the infrastructure, pharma, auto & auto-parts, financial services, chemicals, media, technology, telecommunication, distribution, agriculture – commodities, petroleum & natural gas sectors.

Avaantika is a regular speaker at seminars, training institutes, and law schools. She spoke on Global Damages Litigation at the ABA Spring Meeting, 2016; at the USIBC Legal Services West Coast Conference in San Francisco in (2012), she presented developments on anti-corruption laws in India; and was a panellist for the USIBC forum entitled 'One Year Later: A Look at the Investment Attitudes in India Post-Elections', Washington DC (2015). She spoke at the Northwestern University School of Law's Chicago Forum (2013 and 2016) and at the Chatham House Conference on Competition Policy (2019).

She has authored a book titled, ‘A Perspective on Product Liability Law and Consumer Safety’ (2006) (ISBN: 81-8159-054-6). She was appointed on a working group set up by the Competition Law Review Committee (established by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in India to review the competition law regime to promote best practices). She works closely with the regulator as a non-government advisor. She recently led the submissions of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) before the Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewing the proposed amendments to the Competition Act, 2002.

She is a published novelist.

Relevant experience:

• Led the negotiations for divestment in the Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd merger with Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited - the first Phase II investigation undertaken by the CCI involving structural remedies.

• Representing Google Inc. on the CCI’s investigation concerning Google Play Billing and Google Pay in a first of its kind antitrust investigation. We have also assisted with two writ petitions filed before the Karnataka High Court in relation to the CCI’s investigation. The team advises Google in relation to their investments in Indian companies.

• Advising the Government of a ‘developed’ European country in relation to its ongoing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the Government of India.

• Represented Reliance Jio Infocomm. Limited in its regulatory representation both pre and post the commercial launch of its telecom and ancillary services including providing strategic, commercial, and legal advice. The team led by Avaantika Kakkar was also fundamental in highlighting the importance of points of interconnection from a competition perspective and defending against allegations of predatory pricing.

• Led the objections to the merger of ZF and WABCO in India for TVS Sundaram Iyengar & Sons. The CCI approved the merger subject to ZF divesting its entire stake in Brakes India.

• Advised Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Limited in various transactions involving the port sector in India, including the first ever port sector notification to the CCI.

• Led the first notification to the CCI in respect of a real estate investment trust (REIT) for Embassy Office Parks REIT.

• Represented Reliance for its acquisition in Den networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited. This deal was notable for defining and analysing complex markets and also because behavioural undertakings were required to be given to ensure competition compliance, taking the interest of consumers into account.

• Assisted Procter & Gamble Company in its acquisition of Merck’s international consumer health business.

• Obtained unconditional approval in relation to acquisition of 15% stake in Biocon by Serum Institute. It was also one of the largest transactions in the vaccine segment both globally and in India. Subsequently in a separate transaction, we represented Biocon and Serum in its acquisition of the global biosimilars portfolio of Viatris Inc. (indirect parent entity of Mylan Inc.)

• Defended United Breweries Limited during a dawn raid by the DG, through the investigation and the CCI proceedings in the first case pertaining to cartelisation in the procurement of beer in India.

• Defending some of India’s leading cement companies in investigations by the CCI for alleged cartelisation. The most recent investigation involved a dawn raid conducted by the CCI at the offices of five of India’s largest cement companies.

• Represented the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in securing approval from the CCI for an increase in the voting rights of CPPIB in ReNew Power Private Limited, prompted by a buyback of ReNew. This case clarified the legal position relating to notifiability of buybacks under Indian merger control.

• Advised Baring Private Equity Asia on its merger with EQT AB. This was the first ever private equity merger approved by the CCI.

• We represented Adani Green Energy Limited before the CCI in relation to the investigation initiated against it under Section 43A of the Competition Act, 2002 .We were called upon by AGEL to prepare the responses to the show-cause notice received by it from the CCI. According to the CCI, certain interim covenants in the agreements violated standstill obligations under law. This case set the precedent for gun jumping rules at the CCI.

• Represented Viacom 18 and Reliance Projects & Property Management Services Limited for obtaining CCI’s approval for the amalgamation of the Jio Cinema OTT platform with Viacom 18. The transaction involved a detailed assessment of the evolving OTT sector, and several rounds of discussions with the CCI case teams regarding the nuances of this market.

• Defending Adani Total Gas Limited in appeals before the Supreme Court of India on a finding of abuse of dominance and imposition of penalty by the CCI. The team secured a stay on the orders of the NCLAT and CCI.

• Defending Premji Invest before the CCI. The CCI’s order notably clarified the scope and applicability of the Item 1 exemption (available under Schedule I to the Combination Regulations), especially in the context of private equity investors.

• Represented Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited in its acquisition of specified assets, including spectrum, towers and other wireless infrastructure. The deal involved the acquisition of substantial assets such as 122.4 MHz of fourth-generation spectrum, more than 43,000 towers, an optic fibre network of 1,78,000 route kilometres and 248 media convergence nodes. This deal was notable owing to its competition law complexities and timelines.

Professional Memberships

Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, India

Publications

• India: Merger Control 2022- The Asia Pacific Antitrust Review - Global Competition Review

• COVID -19 and Competition Law Concerns- COVID -19 and Competition Law Concerns | Competition Law (cyrilamarchandblogs.com)

• India must be the new champion of globalisation- https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/lets-reimagine-globalization-for-india-to-play-the-asian-champion-11657040583371.html

• Update on Indian Merger Control Regime: The Small Target Exemption and pitfalls around jurisdictional thresholds for merger filings before the CCI- Update on Indian Merger Control Regime: The Small Target Exemption and pitfalls around jurisdictional thresholds for merger filings before the CCI | Competition Law (cyrilamarchandblogs.com)

• 10 years of merger control in India- Article-10-years-of-merger-control-in-India.pdf (cyrilshroff.com)

• India: Abuse of Dominance- The Asia Pacific Antitrust Review - Global Competition Review

• India must be the new champion of globalisation- https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/lets-reimagine-globalization-for-india-to-play-the-asian-champion-11657040583371.htmL

• Policy | Will the proposed changes to the competition law weaken it?- Policy | Will the proposed changes to the competition law weaken it? (moneycontrol.com)

• CCI Proposes Amendments to Combination Regulations-CCI Proposes Amendments to Combination Regulations | Competition Law (cyrilamarchandblogs.com)

• The Antitrust Year in Review – 2020- The Antitrust Year in Review – 2020 | Competition Law (cyrilamarchandblogs.com)