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Deals & Cases
25 Mar 2026

Aditya Birla–Times of India Consortium Acquires Royal Challengers Bengaluru for ₹16,660 Crore in India’s Biggest IPL Deal; AZB, Khaitan & Morgan Lewis Advise

"United Spirits has sold 100% of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (owner of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL and WPL franchises) to a consortium of Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone’s perpetual private equity strategy (BXPE) for ₹16,660 crore (₹166.6 billion) in an all‑cash deal — reported as India’s biggest IPL transaction. AZB & Partners (led by Roxanne Anderson) advised United Spirits; Khaitan & Co (led by Shishir Vayttaden and Kartikeya Prakash) advised the buying consortium. Morgan Lewis represented Bolt Ventures, and Touchstone Partners advised Diageo (United Spirits’ parent) on aspects of the deal."

Law firms and the parties they assisted: AZB & Partners advised the seller United Spirits Limited; Khaitan & Co advised the acquiring consortium (Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone’s BXPE); Khaitan Partners acted for The Times of India Group; Morgan Lewis acted for Bolt Ventures; and Touchstone Partners advised Diageo plc (the parent company of United Spirits) on certain aspects. The consortium also used a range of specialist counsel for discrete matters. Brief description of the transaction: United Spirits Limited sold 100% of the equity in its wholly owned subsidiary Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL) — owner/operator of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL and WPL franchises — to a consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone’s BXPE for a total all‑cash consideration of ₹166.6 billion (₹16,660 crore). Lawyers who participated (seniority and practice area where stated in the press release): - AZB & Partners (advising United Spirits Limited) - Roxanne Anderson — Senior Partner - Apoorv Chaturvedi — Senior Associate - Yashaswi Rohra — Senior Associate - Devanshi Patel — Senior Associate - Zunhaid Tapia — Associate - Parvathy Suresh — Associate - Shreya Somani — Associate - Siri Harish — Associate - Khaitan & Co (advising the acquiring consortium) - Shishir Vayttaden — Partner (team lead) - Kartikeya Prakash — (team lead; seniority not specified) - Surbhi Ajitsaria - Deepali Menghwani - Harishankar Raghunath - Pragyansh Nigam - Tawishi Beria - Samkit Jain - Jahnavi Yalavarthi - Modit Mendiratta - Ambreen Rahman - Khaitan Partners (acting for The Times of India Group) - Aashutosh Sampat — (Khaitan Partner) - Rohan Shrivastava — (Khaitan Partner) - Saloni Mehta Bhandawat - Aman Nayar - Shrey Chhabra - Pavitra Khaitan - Bimbita Kateel - Amogh Pareek - Jay Shah - Morgan Lewis (acted for Bolt Ventures) - Firm acted for Bolt Ventures; no individual lawyers named in the press release - Touchstone Partners (advising Diageo plc on certain aspects) - Yashasvi Mohanram - Vaishnavi Sankar - Niharika Rozwal - Achint Jain - Nakul Chandra - Specialist counsel to the consortium (practice areas as stated) - Branding and Intellectual Property: Nirupam Lodha; Malika Nandkeolyar; Rebecca Cardoso - Litigation-related analysis and advice: Manavendra Mishra; Parimal Kaushik - Labour law aspects: Vinay Joy; Srishti Ramakrishnan; Aditya Nair - Data privacy: Supratim Chakraborty; Shramana Dwibedi - Antitrust: Anisha Chand; Armaan Gupta (Where the press release did not state seniority or a practice area for an individual, that information is not included above.)
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