Manoj Bhargava

MANOJ BHARGAVA is co-managing partner of Sidley’s Singapore office and co-leader of the firm’s India practice. Manoj focuses on international capital markets matters, with particular emphasis on India and Southeast Asia. He has over 26 years of experience and has advised on more than 275 equity and debt capital markets offerings, helping raise around US$70 billion for Indian companies.

Manoj has built a substantial practice advising clients on initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, and private placements, including U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-registered offerings, SPAC transactions, and listings on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the stock exchanges of Mumbai, London, Singapore, and Luxembourg. Additionally, he has represented corporations, issuers, investment banks, and investors, and has advised on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and dispositions. Manoj also has experience working on transactions in China, Australia, Europe, and the United States.

“He is a fantastic lawyer who is vastly experienced and a true problem-solver.”
Chambers Asia-Pacific 2026

“Manoj is a super lawyer who is extremely calm, poised and delivers to the letter.”
Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025

Manoj is recognized by the India Business Law Journal in its “International A-List” 2019-2026, as being among the top India-focused lawyers at international law firms based on the collective views of private practice lawyers in India and in-house counsel around the world. In 2026 research commentary, clients remarked that Manoj is a "go to" lawyer for IPOs as he is “solution oriented and has a deep understanding of Indian issuers and their requirements.”

Manoj’s market position is reflected in consistent recognition by Chambers Asia-Pacific (2012-2026) and the Legal 500 for his India and Singapore capital markets practice. Clients consistently highlight his personal attention, commercial acumen, and ability to navigate complex transactions with practical, solution-oriented advice. They commend his deep product knowledge, mastery of regulatory requirements, and his in-house mindset that enables seamless collaboration and execution.

“Manoj Bhargava as the senior partner from the Sidley team is a stand-out professional. His ability to maintain long-term relationships, his hands-on approach to the transaction and his ability to deliver well within timelines makes him a cut above the rest of the competition.”
Legal 500 2024

Select representative experience includes the following*:

• Kotak Mahindra, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, IIFL Capital, and Avendus on the US$195 million initial public offering of equity shares of Amagi Media Labs Limited. This marks the first IPO in India by a company operating in the broadcasting, streaming, and advertising media segments.
• Citigroup, ICICI Securities, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Avendus Capital, Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, CLSA, HDFC Bank, IIFL Capital, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra, Motilal Oswal, Nomura, Nuvama, SBI Capital Markets, and UBS Securities, on the US$1.2 billion initial public offering of equity shares of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited. This is the largest IPO in India by an asset management company to date, and the fourth largest IPO of 2025 in India.
• Brookfield India Real Estate Trust on its US$390 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares underwritten by Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Jefferies India, Elara Capital, and 360 ONE WAM. This is the third QIP by Brookfield India REIT since its IPO, and Sidley advised Brookfield REIT on all four offerings.
• Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley, Avendus Capital, Citigroup, Axis Capital, and Intensive Fiscal Services on the US$821 million initial public offering of equity shares of Lenskart Solutions Limited. Lenskart, a leading direct-to-consumer eyewear retailer, is India’s first eyewear-only company to go public.
• Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Securities, IIFL Capital, J.P. Morgan, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$1.75 billion initial public offering of equity shares of Tata Capital Limited. This is the largest IPO in India in 2025, fourth-largest IPO in Indian history and the largest-ever public offering by a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India.
• ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HSBC, IDBI Capital, Motilal Oswal, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$460 million initial public offering of equity shares of National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). This is the largest IPO of a market infrastructure institution in India and marks the public debut of a key pillar of India’s capital markets ecosystem.
• ICICI Securities, JM Financial and Nomura on the US$185 million initial public offering of equity shares of Kalpataru Limited. Kalpataru Limited is a prominent, integrated real estate development company with a presence across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune in India.
• Schloss Bangalore Limited (“The Leela” hotels) on its US$410 million initial public offering of equity shares underwritten by JM Financial, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, Citigroup, IIFL Capital, ICICI Securities, Motilal Oswal, and SBI Capital Markets. This marks the largest IPO in the Indian hospitality sector to date.
• Axis Capital, HSBC, Jefferies and SBI Capital Markets on the US$250 million initial public offering of equity shares of Belrise Industries Limited. The IPO received an overwhelming response, with an overall subscription of 43.14 times.
• ICICI Securities, Citigroup, JM Financial, Nuvama, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$150 million initial public offering of equity shares of Ajax Engineering Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Motilal Oswal on the US$350 million initial public offering of equity shares of Dr. Agarwal’s Health Care Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra and IIFL Capital on the US$350 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Mankind Pharma Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Securities, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Intensive Fiscal Services on the US$945 million initial public offering of equity shares of Vishal Mega Mart Limited. Named “Deal of the Year” 2024 by India Business Law Journal and “Best IPO: India” at the FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2025.
• Brookfield India Real Estate Trust on its US$415 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares underwritten by Kotak Mahindra, Avendus Capital and Elara Capital. This is the only QIP by an Indian REIT in 2024, and it marks the first REIT investment in India from the World Bank member International Finance Corporation and the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
• Kotak Mahindra, Jefferies, and JM Financial on the US$410 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Torrent Power Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, BofA Securities, Jefferies, and Morgan Stanley on the US$710 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Godrej Properties Limited. This is the largest QIP fundraise by a real estate company in India.
• ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan on the US$250 million initial public offering of equity shares of Sagility India Limited.
• ICICI Securities, DAM Capital, Jefferies, Nomura, Nuvama, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$645 million initial public offering and US$350 million associated, pre-IPO sale of equity shares of Afcons Infrastructure Limited. This marks the largest IPO by an Indian infrastructure company, the largest IPO by an Indian construction company in the past two decades, and among the largest IPOs in India for 2024. Named “Deal of the Year” 2024 by India Business Law Journal.
• Brainbees Solutions Limited (FirstCry) on its US$500 million initial public offering of equity shares underwritten by Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, JM Financial, and Avendus.
• IIFL Securities and CLSA on the US$35 million initial public offering of equity shares of Unicommerce eSolutions Limited. 
• ICICI Securities, Citigroup, Axis Capital, and Ambit on the US$220 million initial public offering of equity shares of Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited. 
• Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan on the US$235 million initial public offering of equity shares of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited.
• Axis Capital, Jefferies, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$2.15 billion follow-on public offering of equity shares of Vodafone Idea Limited. This marks India’s largest ever follow-on public offering of equity shares. Named “Deal of the Year” 2024 by India Business Law Journal, and Highly Commended: Best Equity Deal of South Asia by FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2024.
• Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Kotak Mahindra on the US$3.6 billion rights offering of equity shares of Vodafone Idea Limited. Named “Deal of the Year” 2019 by India Business Law Journal.
• Kotak Mahindra, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, and Nomura on the US$220 million initial public offering of equity shares of Indegene Limited.
• JM Financial and Kotak Mahindra on the US$120 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Chalet Hotels Limited. 
• ICICI Securities, DAM Capital, JM Financial, SBI Capital Markets, and Jefferies on the US$190 million initial public offering of equity shares of Entero Healthcare Solutions Limited. This is the first IPO in India of a healthcare product distributor.
• Medi Assist Healthcare Services Limited on its US$140 million initial public offering of equity shares underwritten by Axis Capital, IIFL Securities, Nuvama, and SBI Capital Markets. This is the first IPO in India of a health insurance third-party administrator company.
• ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, JM Financial, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$115 million initial public offering of equity shares of Muthoot Microfin Limited.
• ICICI Securities, Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra, and Ambit on the US$145 million initial public offering of equity shares of India Shelter Finance Corporation Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, Citigroup, JM Financial and J.P. Morgan on the US$205 million initial public offering of equity shares of Honasa Consumer Limited. This is the first IPO in India of a “House of Brands” company. Named “Deal of the Year” 2023 by India Business Law Journal.
• Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, and Motilal Oswal on the US$230 million initial public offering of equity shares of Cello World Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Securities, and J.P. Morgan on the US$100 million initial public offering of equity shares of Blue Jet Healthcare Limited.
• JM Financial and Kotak Mahindra on the US$165 million initial public offering of equity shares of SAMHI Hotels Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, Citigroup, and Jefferies on the US$185 million initial public offering of equity shares of Concord Biotech Limited.
• Brookfield India Real Estate Trust on its US$280 million qualified institutions placement of units underwritten by BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra, Citigroup, Axis Capital, Jefferies, JM Financial, SBI Capital Markets, IIFL Securities, BOB Capital, and ICICI Securities.
• BofA Securities, Jefferies, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, and JM Financial on the US$215 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Aditya Birla Capital Limited. Named “Deal of the Year” 2023 by India Business Law Journal.
• Kotak Mahindra, Axis, IIFL Securities, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan on the US$530 million initial public offering of equity shares of Mankind Pharma Limited. This marks the largest IPO in India in 2023. Awarded “Best IPO: South Asia” at the FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2023.
• Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, and J.P. Morgan on the US$305 million rights issue of equity shares of PNB Housing Finance Limited. Awarded “Best Equity Deal: South Asia” at the FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2023.
• ICICI Securities, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Avendus Capital on the US$250 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of AU Small Finance Bank Limited. Named “Deal of the Year” 2022 by India Business Law Journal.
• Kotak Mahindra and Jefferies on the US$430 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Macrotech Developers Limited. This was a ground-breaking and first of its kind transaction, being the first ever purely secondary QIP of equity shares in the history of Indian capital markets. Named “Deal of the Year” 2022 by India Business Law Journal.
• Kotak Mahindra, BofA Securities, and J.P. Morgan on the US$550 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Macrotech Developers Limited.
• Axis Capital, J.P. Morgan, Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Securities, Edelweiss, IIFL, JM Financial, Yes Securities, SBI Capital Markets, and BOB Capital on the US$340 million initial public offering of equity shares of Macrotech Developers Limited. Named “Deal of the Year” 2021 by India Business Law Journal.
• Axis Capital, Edelweiss, ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, and Kotak Mahindra on the US$425 million initial public offering of equity shares of Vedant Fashions Limited (Manyavar).
• Kotak Mahindra, BofA Securities, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, and J.P. Morgan on the US$480 million initial public offering of equity shares of Adani Wilmar Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Citigroup, ICICI Securities, and JM Securities on the US$715 million initial public offering of equity shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited (Nykaa). Named “Deal of the Year” 2021 by India Business Law Journal. Awarded “Equity Market Deal of the Year (Midsize)” 2022 by Asian Legal Business India Law Awards.
• ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, Credit Suisse, IIFL Securities, Ambit, BOB Capital, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and YES Securities on the US$520 million initial public offering of equity shares of Chemplast Sanmar Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, BofA Securities, Citigroup, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, Motilal Oswal, SBI Capital Markets, and YES Securities on the US$370 million initial public offering of equity shares of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited.
• Axis Capital, Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra, and Nomura on the US$405 million initial public offering of equity shares of CarTrade Tech Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, BofA Securities, Axis Capital, and Jefferies on the US$520 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Godrej Properties Limited.
• Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, CLSA, and DSP Merrill Lynch on the US$300 million qualified institutions placement of equity shares of Godrej Properties Limited.
• Axis Capital, BOB Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, HSBC, ICICI Securities, Motilal Oswal, SBI Capital Markets, and UBS on the US$410 million rights offering of equity shares of L&T Finance Holdings Limited.
• Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Citigroup, HSBC, Ambit, Axis Capital, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, J.P. Morgan, Kotak Mahindra, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$525 million initial public offering of units of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust. Named “Equity Market Deal of the Year (Midsize)” 2021 by Asian Legal Business India Law Awards.
• Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Securities, Nomura, and SBI Capital Markets on the US$410 million rights offering of equity shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited.
• Morgan Stanley, Axis Capital, DSP Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra, CLSA, Nomura, UBS Securities, Ambit Capital, HDFC Bank, IDFC Securities, and ICICI Securities on the US$625 million initial public offering of units of Mindspace Business Parks REIT. Named “Best IPO” by The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2020.
• Reliance Industries Limited on its US$7 billion rights offering of equity shares underwritten by JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra, Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, DSP Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Securities, IDFC Securities, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and SBI Capital Markets. Named “Equity Market Deal of the Year (Premium)” 2021 by Asian Legal Business India Law Awards, “Best of South Asia Deal” 2020 by FinanceAsia, and “Deal of the Year” 2020 by India Business Law Journal.
• ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Equities, IIFL Securities, SBI Capital Markets, Induslnd Bank and Yes Securities on the US$400 million initial public offering of equity shares of Sterling and Wilson Solar Limited.
• India Infrastructure Trust on its US$1.89 billion offering of trust units and debentures. The trust raised US$965 million from a subscription of trust units by Rapid Holding 2 Pte. Limited (an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management), and in addition, the trust also issued debentures in an aggregate amount of US$925 million. The original owner of the underlying asset of the trust – the gas pipeline – was an affiliate of Reliance Industries Limited.