Pranjal Prateek

Pranjal is a Delhi-based partner in KCO. Pranjal’s involvement with competition law in India shadows the timeframe of the CCI’s involvement in enforcement and merger control cases. Pranjal regularly advices on myriad competition law issues such as cartels, non – cartel and abuse of dominance cases, merger control, leniency applications, dawn raids and competition compliance.

As part of his experience in enforcement matters, he has worked on several milestone matters, including the cement cartel case, the auto-parts dominance case, the airlines cartel case, numerous pharmaceutical distribution issues related cases, etc. all of which are integral to the evolution of Indian competition law jurisprudence. Notably, Pranjal was involved with the filing of the first few leniency applications.

On the merger control side, Pranjal was involved with the first phase II merger control case involving Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy. More recently, Pranjal played an instrumental role in securing regulatory approvals for the acquisition of Fortis hospitals by IHH and Manipal Hospitals’ acquisition of Columbia Asia hospitals in the hospitals sector, the combination involving Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation in the automobile sector, SoftBank's acquisition of shares in Bundl Technologies (Swiggy), the formation of a global joint venture between Honda Motor Company Limited and Hitachi Limited, combination involving STX Filmworks, Inc. and Eros International Plc., India’s first major SPAC deal involving RMG Corporation’s acquisition of ReNew Power, the merger between two large educators i.e., AKASH & BYJUS, INOX group restructuring, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s (ADIA) investment in Aditya Birla Health Insurance.

Overall, Pranjal is seasoned in a diverse array of industries, including automotive, healthcare, entertainment, e-commerce and energy. His experience allows him to provide antitrust advice on a broad range of matters, including sales and distribution models, antitrust compliance and transaction notifiability. Pranjal has also actively contributed in the CLRC instituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, for recommending amendments to the Competition Act. Pranjal regularly addresses audiences on competition law. He has imparted training to a delegation of 25 representatives of African competition authorities under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. He has been a regular trainer on competition law for the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He has recently conducted several training sessions for National Institute of Financial Management, a Ministry of Finance, Government of India institute. He routinely speaks at academic institutions such as various National Law Universities and the University of Delhi.

Pranjal has been recognised by Chambers and Partners (most recently in December 2022) amongst “Up and Coming” practitioners. His expertise has been recognised by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 and listed him among “Next Generation Partners”. Who's Who Legal consistently features him as one of the “Competition Future Leaders” for several years running.