Raj Kundra Loses Bid For Cut Of $1.65B Rajasthan Royals Sale, Ordered To Repay $4.94M

The High Court of England and Wales has ordered businessman Raj Kundra to repay $4.94 million to Emerging Media Ventures (EMV) and permanently barred him from pursuing proceedings in India over his former Rajasthan Royals shareholding, handing a significant legal victory to the investment vehicle months after it completed the sale of a controlling stake in the IPL franchise at a reported $1.65 billion valuation.

The ruling comes after EMV and its shareholders earlier this year completed the sale of a controlling stake in Rajasthan Royals to a consortium led by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and his family, in partnership with Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, one of the largest transactions in IPL history.

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The deal revived Kundra's long-running dispute over his former 11.7% stake, with the businessman alleging he had been forced to exit at a fraction of the franchise's true value.

As the transaction progressed, Kundra launched proceedings before the NCLT and Bombay High Court, publicly accused EMV and its co-founder Manoj Badale of fraud and concealment, threatened complaints before the BCCI and other agencies, and sought to stop or disrupt the transaction.

EMV argued those actions breached a 2019 settlement under which Kundra accepted $4.94 million, gave up all rights to the shares and agreed that any future disputes would be heard exclusively by the English courts.

Kundra exited Rajasthan Royals after the Supreme Court found him guilty of betting on IPL matches in 2015. He transferred his shareholding under a Share Transfer Agreement before entering into the 2019 settlement, which prohibited him from asserting further ownership claims, commencing proceedings outside England or making public allegations relating to the share transfer.

Justice Griffiths held Kundra had "no realistic prospect" of defending EMV's claim and found "no evidential basis" for allegations that either the 2015 Share Transfer Agreement or the 2019 Settlement Agreement had been procured through fraud or unconscionable conduct.

The judge said Kundra had entered both agreements voluntarily while represented by solicitors.

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The judgment makes permanent an anti-suit injunction first granted in January, restraining Kundra and Kuki Investments from pursuing the Mumbai company petition or commencing related proceedings in India in breach of the settlement's exclusive English jurisdiction clause.

The court further ordered Kundra and Kuki Investments, jointly and severally, to repay the $4.94 million settlement amount with interest after finding EMV had validly terminated the agreement following repeated breaches.

Source: NDTV Trending