DLA Piper has advised a subsidary of TÜV Rheinland Group on the acquisition of NIFE, the Indian market leader in technical vocational training. The seller is company founder and sole proprietor Maliakal Varkey Thomas.

NIFE, founded in 1992, is the leading Indian institute for technical vocational training. Its 75 training centres distributed throughout the subcontinent offer diploma courses in the areas of fire and safety, lift technology and fibre optics.

This strategic investment allows the TÜV Rheinland Group to expand its portfolio while further strengthening the company and its position in the growing Indian market.

DLA Piper's core team comprised lead partner Dr Benjamin Parameswaran and associate Sebastian Decker (both Corporate, Hamburg). DLA Piper worked together with a team of the Indian law firm J. Sagar Associates in Bangalore, involving partner Murali Ananthasivan and senior associate Tamara Devanandan.

The in-house legal team of the TÜV Rheinland Group during this transaction has been led by general counsel Björn Clüsserath and legal counsel Markus Seibel, LL.M.

“We greatly appreciate DLA Piper's professional support in this project," said Markus Seibel, LL.M., legal counsel of TÜV Rheinland AG. "The team headed by Benjamin Parameswaran played a key role in successfully closing this strategic transaction."

Founded in 1872, the TÜV Rheinland Group is a leading international provider of inspection services with 500 locations in 65 countries and more than 17,000 employees worldwide. The parent company of the Group, TÜV Rheinland AG, recorded a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion for the year 2012.