SUMMARY PROFILE
Sophia is a Principal Associate and Head of the Corporate and Commercial Team at M&Co Legal, with a core focus on private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, investment fund formation and traditional finance transactions.
With over a decade of international experience across top-tier law firms, venture capital platforms, and financial institutions in India and the UAE, Sophia has advised on a broad range of complex cross-border corporate transactions and fund structures. Her practice encompasses deal structuring, regulatory compliance, fund documentation, and ongoing governance support for both corporate entities and investment vehicles. Sophia has led transactions across diverse sectors, including fintech, asset management, consumer products, healthcare, infrastructure, and edtech. She regularly advises a wide spectrum of clients—from institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and conglomerates to early- and growth-stage companies—on both equity and debt investments.
Her multi-jurisdictional experience spans India, the UAE, Mauritius, Singapore, and GIFT City (India’s International Financial Services Centre), making her particularly adept at advising on cross-border regulatory environments and international fund structuring.
In addition to transactional matters, Sophia is a trusted advisor on corporate governance, regulatory strategy, and intellectual property issues. She frequently supports policy development initiatives and provides strategic input on legal structuring in alignment with evolving governmental and regulatory frameworks.
EXPERIENCE
Sophia has significant cross-jurisdictional experience spanning a broad range of legal areas and industry sectors, with a particular focus on private equity investments, fundraising, regulatory compliance, and fund formation. She has advised clients across India, the UAE, Singapore, and other global financial centres, and has played a key role in structuring complex investment platforms and navigating regulatory landscapes:
1. Served as Head of Legal for one of India’s largest wealth-tech and fintech platforms. Led the legal strategy and execution for securing multiple regulatory licenses (Mutual Fund, PMS, RIA, RA) within a six-month period. Advised on the structuring of credit funds and offshore vehicles in GIFT City, and provided legal oversight on strategic partnerships, branding, and IP.
2. Represented India’s leading nephrology company in a high-value cross-border equity transaction involving investor exits and joint venture structuring for primary investments.
3. Advised social impact funds, sovereign and pension funds, and GIFT City funds, including structuring of ReITs and InvITs in collaboration with one of the world’s largest pension funds and Indian conglomerates.
4. Involved in the establishment of alternative investment funds, including Protected Cell Company (PCC) and Variable Capital Company (VCC) structures under IFSCA regulations, Singaporean law, and Mauritian frameworks.
5. Advised on the structuring and general partner negotiations for a foreign-owned and controlled real estate credit platform established as
a joint venture with a sovereign wealth fund acting as limited partner.
6. Represented a major U.S. private equity fund in an off-market secondary equity acquisition involving a prominent Indian stock exchange.
7. Advised a ‘women built, led and focussed’ fintech platform through its Series A fundraising round, providing strategic legal guidance on
investor onboarding and equity structuring.
8. Acted as both legal counsel and angel investor for a leading Indian consumer-tech platform, advising from pre-seed through Series E fundraising rounds over a span of five years.
