Karthik Ashwin Thiagarajan is of counsel in the Singapore office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He focuses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate restructuring matters in India and Southeast Asia.

Karthik has assisted companies and investors across a variety of industries, including the information technology, fin-tech, telecommunication, logistics and consumer goods sectors. He has also advised clients on several cross-border restructuring matters in Southeast Asia.

In addition to his mergers and acquisitions experience, he also advises clients on internal investigations and anti-corruption reviews in the region. In the recent past, Karthik has assisted clients with investigations in the financial services, information technology, electronics and fast-moving consumer goods sectors in India and Southeast Asia.

Chambers Asia Pacific  recognizes Karthik as an Up and Coming lawyer for India Corporate/M&A and a client noted that “Karthik is an exceptional lawyer and we highly value his guidance. We greatly appreciate his expertise, insight, hard work and responsiveness.” In addition, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific  recognizes Karthik as a key lawyer for India-related transactions. He was also lauded by a client for being “on top of his trade” in the India Business Law Journal’s 2019 “Leaders of the pack” report. 

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Karthik worked as an international lawyer with Drew & Napier (2006-2011), a leading law firm in Singapore, where he assisted with technology, media and telecommunications, cross-border restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions in Southeast Asia and India.

Karthik received his Master of Laws from Harvard University in 2009. He graduated from law school (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Honors)) from National Law School of India University, where he served as the Chief Editor of the Indian Journal of Law and Technology. He served as a law clerk to Justice Ruma Pal of the Supreme Court of India between 2005 and 2006.

Karthik is admitted to practice in India and New York. He speaks English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.

Representative Experience

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation on its acquisition of Softex Indonesia, a leader in the fast-growing Indonesian personal care market, for approximately US$1.2 billion from a group of shareholders including CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific IV.
• Uber Technologies, Inc. on the sale of its Southeast Asia ride and food-delivery businesses to Grab, a provider of ride-hailing, ride sharing and logistics services in Southeast Asia, in exchange for a 27.5% stake in Grab.
• Voya Financial, a U.S. financial, retirement, investment and insurance company based in New York, on a joint venture in India with the SLK Group, a leading technology and consulting company to provide business process outsourcing and software development services.
• Kimberly-Clark Corporation on the acquisition of Hindustan Unilever Limited’s 50% shareholding in Kimberly-Clark Lever Private Limited, a joint venture company between Hindustan Unilever Limited and Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
• Colfax Corporation on the acquisition of EWAC Alloys Limited, an Indian wholly owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Ltd, by its subsidiary, ESAB Holdings Ltd.
• Celanese Corporation on the acquisition of Next Polymers Limited, an Indian engineering thermoplastics company.
• Wolverine World Wide, Inc. on various matters relating to its operations and forays in Asia.
• Acumen Fund, Inc. on various investments in India.
• Founders of Happy Marketer Pte. Ltd., a leading Southeast Asian digital marketing agency headquartered in Singapore, on its sale to Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., a global network and specialist/multi-market brands.
• The Kraft Heinz Company on the sale of Heinz India Private Limited to Zydus Wellness, an Indian consumer health products company.