Crawford, Tatva, JSA, AZB lead on Panasonics acquisition of majority stake in Firepro Systems

Japanese electronics major Panasonic Corporation has acquired 76.2 per cent stake in the infrastructure protection and security company, Firepro Systems for an undisclosed amount..According to VCCircle, the size of the deal could be upwards of $200 million (Rs 1,066 crore)..Panasonic has entered into a definitive agreement for subscription of new shares through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Anchor Electricals. Panasonic will acquire a portion of Firepro’s ordinary shares owned by financial investors including Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) II Limited, Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) III Limited (together referred as SCPE) and Ambadevi Mauritius Holding Limited and Ashoka Investments Holdings Limited (PineBridge Investments entities)..Crawford Bayley advised Panasonic with a team led by Partner Sanjay Asher..The Bangalore office of Tatva Legal advised Firepro with a team led by Partner N.K. Dilip along with Manager Raghunath Ananthapur..J. Sagar Associates advised SCPE with a team led by Partner Sidharrth Shankar along with Senior Associate Nitesh Bhasin and Associate Vatsal Gaur..AZB & Partners acted as the legal advisors to PineBridge. AZB team was led by Delhi-based Partner Gautam Saha along with Senior Associate Sachin Mehta..ET reports, the acquisition is aimed to grow Panasonic’s position beyond consumer electronics segment in the Indian market to emerge as a top electronics company by 2018. The move will allow Panasonic to venture into both housing and non-housing markets, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Anchor..Anchor is a top wiring device manufacturer in India with a robust sales network and brand strength. This move will also help in accelerating the introduction of a number of Panasonic group products in India.