Blackstone-backed Nexus shops for Kolkata mall Diamond Plaza; Khaitan, SAM advise

Nexusmalls Whitefield Private Limited, an affiliate of Blackstone Inc. and a SPV of Nexus Select Trust, is set to acquire Super Diamond Enterprises, owner and operator of popular Kolkata mall ‘Diamond Plaza’.

The transaction, valued at approximately ₹347.5 crore, involved the divestment of a marquee retail asset in West Bengal and was executed following a restructuring and hiving off of unrelated business.

The transaction comprised complex structuring issues, from the conversion of a partnership firm to a private limited company, the carve out of non-transaction assets and various other commercial structuring aspects.

Khaitan & Co advised Nexusmalls Whitefield on this acquisition. The Firm role includes conducting comprehensive legal due diligence on the Target including title, land use, regulatory approvals and leasing arrangements, identifying key risks and advising on mitigation strategies, and leading the drafting, review, negotiation, finalisation and execution of transaction documents.

The core transaction team consisted of Shourya Sengupta (Partner), Deepak Jodhani (Partner), Sneh Lata (Counsel), Divyansh Joshi (Principal Associate), Radhika Goenka (Senior Associate), Associates Miheer Jain, Kriti Jalan and Lavanya Agarwal with assistance from the following:

Real estate aspects: Gaurav Dasgupta (Partner), Shreetama Chakraborty (Principal Associate) and Richaa Mukhopadhyay (Senior Associate);

Employment aspects: Deepak Kumar (Partner) and Varsha Sankara Raman (Senior Associate).

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co advised Super Diamond Enterprises and its partners on this transaction.

The transaction was led by Manan Mehta (Partner), Dipayan Bhattacherjee (Partner) and Rajat Sinha (Associate).

Bhoumik Vaidya (Partner), along with Anushka Merchant (Senior Associate) and Tasneem Zaveri (Senior Associate) advised on real estate law aspects.

Last year, Blackstone had acquired Kolkata's South City Mall in a ₹3,250 crore transaction.

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