Firms across the world have partnered to assist on a consortium’s bid to acquire Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise Rajasthan Royals for USD1.65 billion.
The transaction is the second-highest acquisition this year of a franchise in the IPL, the world’s richest cricket league, following the USD1.8 billion sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in March 2026.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) advised the buyer consortium on the acquisition, as well as Indian businessman Adar Poonawalla on the formation of the buyer consortium with the family of Lakshmi Mittal, who is executive chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker.
The proposed transaction involves not only the acquisition of Rajasthan Royals, but its overseas franchises, Paarl Royals in South Africa and Barbados Royals in Barbados, from a consortium led by Manoj Badale, managing partner of Emerging Media Ventures.
“The biggest challenge was probably managing the pace and complexity simultaneously while ensuring every moving piece stayed aligned,” said Iqbal Khan, lead partner for the CAM team.
“What truly stood out throughout the process was the exceptional collaboration between all the teams involved, coupled with the constant pragmatic guidance and support from Adar [Poonawalla], Aditya [Mittal], Sapan Gupta, Mac [Makarand Karkare], FJD [Firdaus Dastoor], Amit Lodha, Manav Bakshi and Kunal Vyas The advisers worked with remarkable co-ordination, commercial focus and mutual respect, which played a significant role in successfully getting the transaction across the line.”
Karkare is GC and Dastoor is a director for multiple companies of the Poonawalla Group. Lodha is CIO and co-founder of Arteqin Capital, adviser to the Mittal family on the transaction, while Mittal Group representatives were Gupta, group GC; Bakshi, general manager for corporate M&A; and counsel Vyas.
The transaction team at CAM comprised partners Khan and Ashid Basheer, principal associate Subbalaxmi S, senior associate Shefali Murthy, as well as associates Gunjan Singh, Raviraj Zinzuvadia, Mallika Bhaskar and Khushi Jaffar.
Supporting teams included intellectual property as well as white-collar crime and investigations led by partners Swati Sharma and Ankoosh K Mehta, respectively.
Trilegal acted as Indian legal counsel to Westview and advised the Mittal family in relation to the Mittal-Poonawalla consortium’s proposed acquisition.
“Transactions of this scale require navigating multiple stakeholders, parallel workstreams and evolving commercial considerations within tight timelines,” said Nishant Parikh, lead partner for Trilegal.
“Successful execution depends not only on technical legal expertise, but also on effective co-ordination, anticipation of potential issues and the ability to facilitate commercially workable solutions in a highly competitive and dynamic environment.
“The Rajasthan Royals transaction was particularly interesting because it sat at the intersection of traditional M&A and the unique regulatory and governance framework applicable to professional sports leagues in India.
“Transactions involving marquee sports franchises remain relatively rare in India, particularly at this scale. Advising on the deal therefore required careful consideration of league-specific ownership and governance issues alongside broader commercial and strategic objectives. The transaction also reflects the increasing maturity of the Indian sports ecosystem.”
The Mittal family is the lead member of the consortium and is expected to acquire a 75% stake in the franchise, with Adar Poonawalla expected to hold around 18%. The balance of 7% is expected to be retained by certain existing investors.
The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals, including from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Competition Commission of India.
Trilegal advised on the structuring of the transaction and related Indian legal and regulatory aspects, assisted the Mittal family with reviewing and finalising the transaction documents, and conducted legal due diligence on the Rajasthan Royals while co-ordinating with international counsel for local due diligence in Mauritius, South Africa and St Lucia.
The Trilegal transaction team was led by partners Parikh, Arnav Dayal and Mitali Halbe, with the support of counsel Niharika Choudhary and Archit Gupta, senior associates Averal Sibal and Soham Munshi, and associates Akshaya Kapoor, Akshat Kabra and Aryan Grover.
Supporting teams were led by partners Komal Dani (direct tax), Himanshu Sinha (indirect tax), Kirti Balasubramanian (intellectual property), Mohit Rohatgi (disputes), Kunal Gupta (white-collar crime), Aparna Mehra (competition), Jishnu Sanyal (technology, media and telecommunications), and Parvathy Tharamel (labour and employment).
AZB & Partners acted as Indian legal counsel to the sellers, Emerging Media Ventures, Footballco Intermediate Cooperatief, Blue Water Estate and others.
Latham & Watkins advised Lakshmi Mittal and his son Aditya Mittal.
London-based partners Farah O’Brien, Nick Cline and Jon Fox led the transaction team, with support from associates Faith Edmunds, Faris Shoubber, Nima Pourdad and Annie Grimes.
Partners Simon Skinner and Rachael Astin led the supporting teams of tax, and entertainment, sports and media, respectively.
Macfarlanes and CMS acted as international legal counsel to the existing shareholders.
