CMS advises FIA on landmark World Rally Championship and European Rally Championship commercial rights agreement

CMS has advised the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the global governing body for motor sport, on a landmark long-term commercial rights agreement for the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), following the acquisition of WRC Promoter GmbH by Cosmobilis and Park Square Capital.

Described by the FIA as the largest commercial agreement in the history of the championships, it marks a new chapter for both the WRC and ERC. The agreement is designed to support the continued growth and development of rallying worldwide through significant new investment, enhanced fan engagement and the creation of a new FIA Growth Fund to support rally development programmes globally.

The agreement follows the acquisition of WRC Promoter GmbH by Cosmobilis, a European automotive technology and services platform, and Park Square Capital, a leading private credit investor. 

CMS advised the FIA on all legal aspects of the agreement, helping to establish a long-term framework for the commercial promotion and development of two of the world's leading rally championships.

Tom Jameson, CMS Corporate Partner, comments: “This represents a major milestone for the FIA and for the future of international rallying. The agreement provides a strong platform for the continued growth and commercial development of the WRC and ERC, backed by significant long-term investment. We are proud to have supported the FIA on this complex international deal, drawing on CMS’s cross-border capabilities and experience across sport, media and commercial rights.”

Paul O’Dowd, Chief Legal Officer at Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, comments: “We would like to thank Tom Jameson and the wider CMS teams for the exceptional support they provided throughout this process. Their strategic insight and commercial judgement were invaluable in navigating a highly complex international transaction. The quality and clarity of their advice at every stage gave us great confidence, and they proved to be an outstanding partner to the FIA.”

The CMS team was led by CRP Tom Jameson (Corporate), with support from Eliza Cohen (Media & Technology). The wider team included Anna Burchner and Rebecca Stewart (Tax), and Alyssa Chandiramani (Corporate) from CMS UK; Mary Lédée (Tax), Geoffrey Levesque, Lisa Romani, Sarah Marguerie and François Poirier (Finance), Christophe Lefaillet, Caroline Buyse, Léandra Peyre and Maxime Hanriot (Corporate) from CMS France; Daniel Jenny and Florian Jung (Corporate), and Kaspar Landolt (Finance) from CMS Switzerland; Jessica Mohaupt and David Fier (Corporate) from CMS Germany.

CMS has extensive experience advising sports governing bodies, rights holders and investors on strategic commercial rights arrangements and investment transactions across the sports sector, including matters involving governance, media rights, sponsorship and commercialisation.