India's deal market is busy and its rulebook has changed. M&A deal value in India reached about US$123 billion in 2025. In 2026, the Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on April 1, replacing the 1961 Act. Deals above ₹2,000 crore with substantial business operations in India can now need CCI approval under the deal value threshold.
The SAST Amendment, 2025 has changed how open-offer prices are set, and the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposes changes to schemes of arrangement. Firms and in-house teams now expect associates who know these rules and can do the deal work from the first day.
To meet this demand, the Integrated Academy for Law & AI (IALA), in collaboration with BRIDGE, Dharmashastra National Law University (DNLU), Jabalpur, has launched an Online Certificate Course on Mergers & Acquisitions, Due Diligence & AI.
The course takes participants from the basics of M&A to structuring a deal in four weekends, the way Tier 1 associates work it: choosing the deal structure, clearing the regulatory map, running due diligence in a data room, turning red flags into deal terms, and using AI tools to do this work faster and more accurately. No prior M&A experience is required.
The course begins October 31, 2026, with live weekend sessions across four weekends.
Practitioner-led faculty. Partners from Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners, Aquilaw, IC RegFin Legal and Antares Legal, along with the Registrar of DNLU Jabalpur.
Deal work, not just theory. Participants work through a 30-document mock data room with planted red flags and a solved key, and build a sample due diligence report, an issue tracker and a deal CV along the way.
Updated for 2026. The Income-tax Act, 2025, the CCI deal value threshold, the SAST Amendment, 2025 and the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 are covered module by module.
AI workflows for deal practice. A dedicated module on using Claude, NotebookLM, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for clause extraction, SPA redlining, issue trackers and regulatory checks, with guardrails on anonymisation, client consent and verification.
Flexible format. Weekend-only live sessions with live Q&A, built for law students and working professionals alike.
Module 1: M&A Foundations and Deal Lifecycle. Mergers, demergers, slump sales, asset and share purchases, control and minority positions, buy-side and sell-side mandates, distressed M&A under the IBC, and the NDA, term sheet and exclusivity stage through to signing and closing.
Module 2: The 2026 Regulatory Map. Schemes under Sections 230 to 233 and the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the CCI deal value threshold and green channel, gun-jumping, SAST triggers and the SAST Amendment, 2025.
Module 3: Cross-Border, Tax and Financing. FDI and sectoral caps, FEMA and NDI pricing, cross-border mergers under Section 234, the Income-tax Act, 2025 including the Section 116 loss carry-forward cap, GAAR, stamp duty, valuation and acquisition finance.
Module 4: Due Diligence: Scope, Data Room and Core Workstreams. Red-flag, full-scope and confirmatory diligence, request lists, virtual data room management, and the corporate, contractual, litigation, tax, regulatory and employment workstreams.
Module 5: Data, Technology and AI Diligence. DPDP readiness of a target, cybersecurity and breach history, IP chain of title and open-source risk, diligence on AI assets, and EU AI Act exposure.
Module 6: From Findings to Deal Documents. Drafting the DD report, turning red flags into conditions precedent, price adjustments, escrow and walk-away rights, SPA architecture, W&I insurance, and closing mechanics.
Module 7: AI Workflows for M&A and Due Diligence. A grounded deal corpus in NotebookLM, contract review and SPA redlining in Claude, structured deliverables in ChatGPT and Gemini, promoter and regulatory checks in Perplexity, and the limits of professional tools such as Kira, Luminance, Harvey and Spellbook.
Module 8: The M&A Practice. Post-closing execution, disputed indemnity claims, scoping diligence as a paid engagement, career paths across firms, in-house, PE/VC and transaction advisory, and building a profile with a deal CV, sample DD report and issue tracker.
The faculty includes Dr. Praveen Tripathi (Registrar, Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur), Parth Singh (Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co), Thanuja Palla (Partner, Hammurabi & Solomon Partners), Shruti Lohia (Partner, Aquilaw), Abhisshek Singlla (Partner, IC RegFin Legal), Mahak Khanna (Partner, Antares Legal), Rachana Rautray (Technology & Media Specialist Counsel) and Agastya Shukla (Legal Operations & AI Consultant).
Duration: 8 live online sessions across 4 weekends, October to November 2026
Dates: Starts October 31, 2026 (weekends only)
Session length: 1.5 to 2 hours each, with live Q&A
Mode: Online, Live on Zoom
Eligibility: Law students (UG and PG), young lawyers and corporate associates, Company Secretaries and CAs moving into transactions, and in-house counsel, compliance and deal support professionals. No prior M&A experience required.
Fee: ₹2,999 (Basic) and ₹3,999 (Advanced, recommended). The Advanced plan adds Lifetime Access to Recorded Lectures, the Mock Data Room with solved key (30 documents), the Due Diligence Toolkit, the Deal Execution Playbook, the M&A Prompt Library (200+ prompts), curated course notes (100+ pages), the Recruiter & Employer Contact List and a 1 to 5 year M&A career roadmap.
Certification: Advanced QR-Verifiable Certificate in Mergers & Acquisitions, Due Diligence & AI from IALA, in collaboration with BRIDGE, Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur
Register: https://iala.in/mna-bb/
The Integrated Academy for Law & AI (IALA) is a legal education academy focused on Law & AI programmes, teaching core areas of law alongside practical AI integration. Founded by NLU graduates, IALA builds industry-oriented courses with law firms, legal practitioners and technology experts.
<sponsored by the brand>