Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas’ Equity Partner and Corporate Practice Co-Head, Ashwath Rau will be joining AZB & Partners. The move, which has given rise

to much industry talk, has been confirmed by sources close to the matter.

As reported earlier today, Ashwath Rau resigned from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas after spending nearly 17 years at the firm. A graduate of NLSIU, Bangalore, Ashwath was admitted to the firm’s partnership in 2006.

Cyril Shroff confirmed Ashwath’s departure to Bar & Bench.  However, both Zia Mody and Ashwath Rau have not responded to email and messages inviting comments at time of publication.

It has been a not-too-pleasant week for Cyril Amarchand  Mangaldas.

Earlier this week, Principal Associates Shyamali Singh and Harsh Maggon too joined AZB as Partner and Counsel respectively. With these hires, the informal “no poach” agreement between Zia Mody and Cyril Shroff seems to have come to an end.

It is not as if AZB has had it easy either. Three of the firm’s star Partners, Shuva Mandal, Essaji Vahanvati and Abhijit Joshi have all moved out of the firm. Ashwath’s entry will undoubtedly boost the firm’s M&A practice.

With Rau’s move confirmed, what remains to be seen is what happens to his 40-odd member team that includes five Partners.