Retail

Retail expansion is required for high footfall linked customer base ‘service’ or ‘product’ businesses. Example of such a service would be healthcare – such as clinics, speciality hospitals and diagnostic centres. Example of product based business would apparel stores or FBO chains. This typically ties in with franchisee, distributorship, aggregator models of business.

Such companies typically operate in wide geographies, having large consumer base, domestic and international stores, vertical or horizontal tie-ups including through e-commerce marketplace websites. For all of these reasons, such business are susceptible to multiple regulatory risks of compliances, contractual compliances and disputes.

Agama is highly experienced in dealing with the legal and commercial issues faced by domestic and international companies in this space. The services range from implementation of strategic projects, roll-out of retail expansion in different geographies, in addition to assistance with operational and day to day issues affecting their businesses.

Agama routinely handles retail expansion for its clients at pan-India level covering almost all the states and major cities swiftly. Such assignments typically involve due diligence, corporate, real estate documentation, to ensuring compliances, and acquiring businesses, creating revenue/profit sharing business documents, franchise documentation franchisee-owned company-operated (FOCO) and franchisee-owned franchisee operated (FOFO), in various industries.

Along with transaction advisory and documentation completion, in retail related assignments, Agama is adept at handling pre-dispute situations, disputes and arbitrations in all spheres such as commercial issues, employment issues, intellectual property rights infringement issues.

Renewable Energy

India has been focusing and promoting renewable energy sector over more than a decade and promoting various government schemes in the field of solar, wind energy and other alternative energy sources.

Agama’s role largely commences at the time of initial negotiations between parties and expands into the arena of structuring and finalising the essential documentation and closing of transactions.

Pre-transaction

Agama is minutely involved in project advisory pre-transaction as to viability from a renewable energy regulations perspective and assists with a full project due diligence under the guidance of our Partner, Ms. Archana Balasubramanian.

Agama has historically provided strategic advisory and assistance on project related issues concerning contractual arrangements and legal and regulatory frameworks, to facilitate compliance and risk mitigation in the conduct of business of our clients.

Transactions

We at Agama provide assistance to various entities in the renewable energy space, largely solar energy based, in acquisition of projects which are in their early stages and those in their advanced stages.

Our transactional experience in the renewable energy sector includes, providing end-to-end assistance in acquisition of existing plants / under construction plants; and drafting, negotiation and finalisation of various JVs, business associate agreements, alliance documents and various transactional documents, for (captive) solar power generation.

Agama’s experience also extends to assisting with doing diligence and investments into Indian companies in ancillary areas such as manufacturing and supplying bio mass fuel.

Documentation

In addition to drafting of various transactional documents, Agama assists clients in drafting and finalisation of various commercial documents, such as term sheets, MOUs, framework agreements, brand licensing agreements, EPC and O&M contracts, PPAs and various civil contracts and various ancillary documents such as, bid documentation, making claims, documentation for importing of rigs, engagement letters and client proposals, various NDAs and confidentiality agreements, etc., towards successful conclusion of the projects.

In addition to the above, we have experience of working with EPC contractors and sub-contractors, advising and strategizing on dispute resolution/management and avoidance from the time of bidding until the closing of the transaction, co-ordinating with their ground team and project managers and advising them on the course of action in relation to the contracts executed by the company with owner/employers.

From the real estate standpoint, Agama has extensive experience in advising companies engaged in solar energy business in the acquisition of huge parcels of land for their captive and other solar projects in States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Dispute Resolution

Agama has been assisting renewable energy companies in their pre-disputes and dispute strategies. We have been analysing their contracts such as power purchase, supply, O&M and other key business agreements and others commercials documents with their customers, suppliers and vendors from dispute stand point of view and pro-actively building correspondences for and on their behalf and securing their interest when matters reach appropriate court, tribunal / arbitration.

Real estate

Indian real estate sector is governed by myriad local legislations. Various authorities in India monitor and regulate title to the immovable property and use of the property, be it for commercial, residential, or other non-agricultural purposes. In view of the same, it is important to conduct extensive due-diligence before acquiring any immovable property in order to get the clear and marketable title to the property.

Agama Team has expertise in advising high value property projects across commercial and residential space on a pan-India basis through its network of highly experienced real estate legal and para legal service providers across the country. Agama is in a position to support all real estate ventures across the country. For the commercial success of any real estate project, we take all necessary steps to ensure that property and property based investments are entirely legally compliant.

Agama follows 3Ds specific approach for its clients, extensive Due-diligence, proper Documentation and handling effective Dispute

In real-estate sector, Agama provides following services:

  • Conducting Title Due Diligence, preparing and issuing Title Due Diligence Report and undertaking documentation as well as contractual assignments for the purchase and sale of properties on a timely manner.
  • Advice on all aspects of RERA and Maharashtra RERA Rules.
  • Assisting with drafting and finalization of Agreements for Sale for various residential properties, from the perspective of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (“RERA”) and Maharashtra RERA Rules. Assistance in drafting development agreements and other ancillary documents.
  • Conducting Documentary Due Diligence, preparing and issuing Documentary Due Diligence Report and undertaking documentation as well as contractual assignments for the retail MNC fashion houses and other retail players.
  • Advice in relation to acquisition of real estate for captive and other solar projects in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
  • End-to-end documentation in relation to operations such as acquisition of warehouses and other incidental agreements for various logistics businesses. Templatization of documentation in relation to operations, such as acquisition and operation of warehouses and other incidental agreements.
  • Advice for retail expansion of clients in various sectors including healthcare, viz., drafting and negotiation of lease, leave & license agreements, amenities agreements, due diligence and advice on potential issues.
  • Advice on all type of litigation related to real estate sector in high court and other forums.
  • Advised in ADR related to Real Estate sector including those related to construction. Assisted promoter of a large real estate group in Mumbai in international commercial arbitration in investor disputes and defending the promoter and company before the NCLT. End-to-end assistance in relation to a commercial arbitration between builders and its land-aggregators.
  • Assisted in acquiring residential properties by HNIs/CEOs/Executives of the Company through compressive legal due diligence, searches, issuing public notices and preparing legal documentation and facilitating registration before competent authorities.

Logistics

Post implementation of GST in India, the logistics sector has grown in leaps and bounds and towards becoming more organized. Various e-commerce companies, manufacturing and IT companies have further given boost to logistics sector by outsourcing various activities to achieve end results in the most cost-effective manner with better focused supply chain management methodology.

Team Agama has extensive in-house and practical experience in dealing with key nuances of logistics Industry and have been advisors to several of the biggest onshore and offshore 3PL logistics, freight forwarding, shipping, e-commerce and logistics tech companies.

Commercial Contracts and Corporate Advisory

Agama is uniquely positioned to act as an advisor to large listed enterprises and small businesses in the logistics space, managing contractual requirements of several business vertical as an extended legal arm. Agama has received feedback in the past that our team has been instrumental in reducing negotiation timelines and providing just-in-time responses for all contractual needs of this entity.

Agama is a standing advisor to a large logistics company having pan-India operations on various statutory, contractual and M&A matters. Agama has also conducted due diligence for acquisition interests of the client in a resourceful and practical manner.

Some of Agama’s key services in this sector include:

  • Standardizing and finalizing templates of key business contracts.
  • assistance with warehousing footprint expansion on a pan-India basis.
  • end-to-end commercial documentation, website related as well as business related documentation.
  • e-contracts, terms and conditions assisted in designing the web-interface, privacy policy, customer KYC norms and vendor KYC norms, disclaimers and other policies.
  • IP related documentation (including white labelling of software).
  • key shareholders agreements as advisory to founders of start ups in this phase.
  • commercial contracts, online contracts, vendor contracts, back-to-back arrangements with transporters, reviewing and negotiation of client contracts, pre-dispute advisory, employment policies and labour contracts on a pan-India basis.
  • developing strategies for business, documenting its digital policies, online terms, e-contracts, labour and employment set up as well as statutory advisory.
  • cold storage warehousing and transportation transactions and documentation in joint ventures, development of warehouse, real estate transactions, advisory in relation to subsidies and critical litigation advisory.

Agama has developed niche knowledge and expertise in assisting e-commerce logistics companies whether such companies are marketplaces or whether such companies are engaged in providing pure technology services to logistics companies.

Disputes

As a pre-dispute advisory and litigation outfit, Agama team uses its unique knowledge to assist all businesses in this sphere with their dispute resolution requirements:

  • representing and advising multinational and local logistics companies with respect to litigations filed / claims made against them before the NCLT,
  • recovery of amounts due from a client under insolvency by representations before the Insolvency Resolution Professional.
  • assistance in consolidating and managing litigation all over India as well as resolving labour law issues and other similar statutory issues in clients’ various warehouses and locations in India
  • contesting and defending key litigation on manpower, defending writ petitions, providing opinions and advisory on operations.
  • pre-dispute advisory to logistics clients on various laws including advisory on insolvency laws, labour laws, employee disputes, franchisee disputes, leave and license disputes etc.

Our clientele in the disputes space range from multinational transport companies to B2C operators and shipping companies.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure practice requires experience of infrastructure issues & disputes and in- depth understanding of complexity of legal matters arising therefrom. Being long term projects continual legal engagement is necessary. Be it tender and bidding process, or arrangement with contractor, sub-contractor relationship, negotiations and modifications on the scope, commercials and various other parts of the projects, mainly in the field of in the transportation (road, rail and airports), ports and other sectors.

Agama has extensive experience in advising clients on various aspects of developing infrastructure projects and manufacturing facilities, in particular on equipment procurement, construction and services arrangements. We have also advised on a number of private public partnerships.

Agama’s role commences from the time of initial bidding and forming of consortia for meeting the various technical and financial qualifications. Agama has the expertise to play a key role in structuring (right from the term sheet stage), providing inter-se documentation and collateral provision for parties making the bids. Prior to commencement of the acquisition process, Agama has also provided due-diligence related assistance from the projects’ perspective, which includes regulatory diligence.

Agama also facilitates compliance and risk mitigation in the conduct of business of infrastructure clients.

Transactions Advisory

Preparing framework agreements for parties desirous of jointly bidding for a project.

Drafting, negotiation and finalisation of various JVs, business associate agreements, alliance documents and various transactional documents, for private-public partnership projects by Government of Maharashtra.

Documentation

In addition to drafting of various transactional documents, Agama provides legal documentation services for drafting and finalisation of various commercial documents, such as

  • term sheets,
  • MOUs,
  • framework agreements,
  • brand licensing agreements,
  • EPC and O&M contracts,
  • PPAs
  • civil contracts
  • bid documentation,
  • documentation for importing of oil rigs etc
Dispute Resolution

In addition to the above, we have experienced of working with other EPC contractors and sub-contractors, advising and strategizing on dispute resolution/management and avoidance from the time of bidding until the closing of the transaction, coordinating with their ground team and project managers and advising them on the course of action in relation to the contracts executed by the company with owner/employers.

We routinely assist infrastructure companies in handling their disputes before NCLT, High Court and arbitration on pan-India level.

Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Agama is one of the early entrants into legal support for the healthcare sector.  Particular relevance of this sector currently is also on account of government and private sector impetus to this sector. 

Agama’s clientele ranges from drug manufactures, e-pharma companies, diagnostics companies, hospitals, clinic chains, health-tech companies, mental health related services and the like. Agama has a good command over the various drives, initiatives and regulations of Health Ministry, Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry, Science and Technology Ministry, etc. governing this sector. 

Our team has expert knowledge of various legislations, regulations and judgments affecting the sector such as Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1945 and Rules, Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002 (MCI Code), Drugs Price Control Order, 1995 (DPCO), the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (Data Protection Rules), National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and Pharmacy Act, 1948, etc.

Corporate Commercial Advisory

Agama advises healthcare and pharma organisations –  domestic or international – on various aspects of laws including corporate commercial advisory, branding, advertisement, corporate restructuring, product liabilities labelling, misbranding of product, sector specific laws advisory, business contracts, manufacturing, loan licensing contracts and  labour and other compliances and dispute avoidance and management including appearing for them in NCLT.

Retail Expansion

Agama provides End-to-end retail expansion services for diagnostic centers, multispecialty centers and hospitals on pan-India basis. Our key role is to advise them on conducting intensive due diligence and helping client selecting right partner for setting up these centers across India including negotiating real estate contracts and post contractual advisory and settling of disputes. 

Business Contracts

Agama being entrenched into this sector makes Agama the best fit for standardising and templatizing , reviewing, negotiating and closing 

  • employment related contracts, 
  • key customer contracts including in new age business verticals such as occupational health, 
  • all contracts pertaining to their IT requirements including software development agreements, cloud management services and the like. 
Intellectual Property

Assistance with obtaining Trade Mark Registration for clients, helping them to set up their businesses under brand name and suggested a framework to run their businesses by ensuring brand Protection.

Start-ups

End-to-end advisory and transaction assistance for start-ups, preparing for investment, acquisition or expansion.

Food and beverages

Food and beverage sector (F&B Sector) has emerged in a new avatar with the consciousness and increasing awareness towards healthy food. The sector has witnessed spikes in innovation with focus on nutrition. F&B Sector comes within the purview of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The key legislations that govern this sector in India include Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA) and attendant rules and regulations, Legal Metrology Act, 2009, Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, Insecticide Act, 1968 and Essential Commodities Act, 1955 amongst others.

Agama provides end-to-end business legal solutions to businesses in the fast moving consumable goods (FMCG) and F&B Sector.

FBOs

Our team has in-depth regulatory and practical experience dealing with all F&B Sector related nuances. Agama advises Food Business Operators (FBOs), ready to eat foods manufacturing, packaging and selling companies, in respect of its operations, setting up kiosks, sectoral compliances, creating and mapping the statutory compliance program, retail expansion, food recall and food expiry advisories, general corporate advisory as well as advertising and media -related issues and other ASCI advisory. Agama also advises FBOs on documentation in relation to business expansion, distributor relationships and vendor relationships.

Tobacco and Hygiene

Agama also has working knowledge of tobacco and hygiene products sales industry encompassing manufacture and distribution. Agama team contribution to this industry includes structuring of distribution channel, managing warehousing, transportation and other such business-related arrangements through transaction specific and standardized system for such corporates.

Cloud Kitchens

Agama’s wide gamut of experience includes setting up of kiosks, dark kitchens, cloud kitchens and other delivery kitchens including assistance with obtaining licenses, registration, labelling, MRP related issues, discounts, offers, tie in arrangements, and requirements from regulatory authorities as well as drafting managing and negotiation of key contracts with IT integrators and other suppliers.

Franchise Agreements

Agama’s expertise includes franchise relationship development, assisting franchisor in identifying the structure and advising on creation of standard processes for expanding the franchise network.

Network

Agama through its pan-India presence provides advice on stamping and registration of documents in different states and remote locations as well as assists in procuring relevant licenses through network associates in such locations.

Disputes and Arbitration

We also provide dispute resolution, negotiation and pre-dispute advisory services in relation to managing distributors and vendor relations.

Agama advised its clients in arbitration for key ingredient supplier for beverages vis-à-vis their contractors. Agama has also successfully represented a client against a major FMCG conglomerate in receiving contractual amounts and other damages owed to it in respect of its bottling plant.

E Commerce & information technology

E-Commerce

Agama has successfully assisted e-commerce ventures in various sectors including

blockchain technology basedlogisticshealthcareonline gamingeducationroboticsHR techsportscourier and logistics servicesinteriors / architect portalsprivate logisticssocial media businessretailautomobile maintenance

among others to structure their documentation pertaining to the launch of their e-commerce portals, operational contracts of various natures and advising the management on sectoral laws from time to time.

Agama has been closely involved with all ventures to handhold these e-commerce entities to launch their websites and businesses by preparing digital new age click wrap contacts in various forms such as Website terms and conditions, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Disclaimers, E-mail interface, Return and Refund Policies, Shipping Policy, payment gateways contracts, cloud hosting agreements, with complete customization as per business processes and flows.

Typically, we get involved at the stage of web / app development and advice clients on how to structure their web pages / app interface such that norms of customer protection (in B2C)/ contractual fairness (in B2B) may be maintained. The solutions offered by Agama include advice on alerts and other communications during the lifecycle of an entire transaction.

Information Technology

Agama has developed an expertise in the area of IT and ITeS for Indian and global companies on various legal, regulatory and matters in relation to protection of intellectual property and data privacy, e-surveillance.

Agama expertise spans a vast of range of contract creation and negotiation with a mature team having over two decades of experience in areas of Intellectual Property, SaaS, fin-tech, software licensing, end-user license agreements, reseller agreements, software development agreements, software escrow agreements, software assignment agreements, call center agreements, tele-marketing agreements, technology transfer agreement, trade mark license, non-disclosure agreements.

Agama is tuned into in data protection laws and its implications on Indian and overseas companies. This mainly includes the review of nature of information processed / stored / collected and handling sensitive personal information in the virtual world of cloud storage and processing.

Agama has handled disputes pertaining to data privacy and dealt with various intricacies surrounding those disputes.