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Ruchit Patel

Ruchit Patel

Partner
Languages: German
Areas of Practice
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Ruchit Patel is one of Europe’s leading antitrust partners, advising some of the world's largest companies on high-stakes competition matters before the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), UK sectoral regulators, and the UK High Court. He also has significant litigation experience before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal. Ruchit is a member of Ropes & Gray's governing policy committee—a mark of the firm’s confidence in his leadership—and divides his time between the firm’s London and Dublin offices. Ruchit’s practice spans the full breadth of competition law: complex multi-jurisdictional merger control and FDI filings, investigations and enforcement defence, and contentious competition litigation. He is particularly sought after by clients in the life sciences, pharmaceuticals, private equity, technology, and financial services sectors, and brings deep cross-border experience across the UK, EU, and Asia.

Ruchit is consistently recognised as one of the most distinguished competition lawyers of his generation. In 2026 he was named Antitrust & Competition Lawyer of the Year at the LMG Life Sciences EMEA Awards—one of the most respected awards programmes in the life sciences legal market, with winners determined through a rigorous, research-led process. Also in 2026, Global Competition Review designated his work on Pfizer's ~$10 billion acquisition of Metsera as its Antitrust Matter of the Year—the pre-eminent global accolade in the competition law field. He is ranked in Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, and Chambers UK (2020–2026), where clients describe him as: "an available and commercial lawyer, with a clear understanding of his clients and an ability to foreshadow the client's best interest," "expert in his field, with even more expert understanding of complex organisational dynamics," "an innovative thinker who will partner with you, rather than just advise you," and "a fantastic advisor, with deep industry experience and competition law knowledge." Chambers notes that Ruchit regularly acts for clients on CMA merger reviews and FDI filings, with a particularly strong following in the private equity and pharmaceutical sectors. The Legal 500 describes him as "the name to note for antitrust law matters" in London, singling him out for his experience on cross-border matters and noting his in-depth knowledge of Indian competition law. He has also been recognised in The Legal 500 US.

Earlier accolades include Global Competition Review's 40 Under 40 (2020), recognising the top young antitrust lawyers in the world, and the GCR and Who's Who Legal Future Leader designations. Who's Who Legal clients describe him as "skilled, flexible and sharp-minded," "uniquely dedicated to ensuring his clients' success," and someone who "focuses on strategy and results." He was also named a BTI Client Service All-Star (2022), a peer- and client-driven recognition of exceptional client service, and received an LMG Life Sciences Americas Impact Deal of the Year award (2022) for his role advising Pfizer on its $11.6 billion acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals.

Ruchit trained and qualified at a Magic Circle law firm before working at the Brussels office of another leading international firm. He joined Ropes & Gray as its first antitrust partner in London, and has built the firm's London competition practice into a recognised force in UK and European competition law. He holds a First Class LLB from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, a First Class JD from Universität Würzburg, and an LPC with Commendation from Nottingham Law School. He is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, and in Ireland (2016). He also speaks German. Ruchit is a visiting lecturer at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London, and serves on the editorial boards of Competition Law International and Law360. He is an active member of the Competition Section of the Law Society of England and Wales and the IBA editorial board. His academic writing has twice been recognised by the Antitrust Writing Awards (organised by Concurrences and George Washington University), including a 2025 finalist nomination for his work on gaps in European merger control, and a 2014 nomination in the Private Actions category.

Experience

Ruchit has advised on some of the most significant and complex transactions of recent years. A selection of recent matters includes:

Life Sciences & Healthcare

  • Pfizer on its ~$10 billion acquisition of Metsera—including successfully defending a bidding war on antitrust grounds before multiple agencies. Named GCR Antitrust Matter of the Year 2026
  • Eli Lilly on its agreement to acquire Ajax Therapeutics (up to $2.3 billion) and Ventyx Biosciences ($1.2 billion)
  • Tanabe Pharma in the $2.5 billion sale of global rights to a leading ALS therapy to Shionogi
  • ImmunoGen on the antitrust aspects of its ~$10.1 billion sale to AbbVie
  • Becton Dickinson on its $4.2 billion acquisition of Edwards Lifesciences' Critical Care business and its $17.5 billion divestiture to Waters Corporation
  • AbbVie on its acquisition of Mitokinin, a discovery-stage biotech developing treatments for Parkinson's disease
  • Pfizer on multiple transactions including Biohaven (~$12 billion), Global Blood Therapeutics (~$5.4 billion), Trillium Therapeutics ($2.26 billion), and Medivation ($14 billion)
  • Medtronic on several transactions including Covidien ($43 billion), Mazor Robotics ($1.64 billion), Affera (~$1 billion), and Intersect ($1.1 billion)
  • Acceleron Pharma on its approximately $11.5 billion sale to Merck
  • Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, in a billion-dollar worldwide co-development and co-commercialisation agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for four novel neurology drugs
  • Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in an exclusive collaboration and license agreement with JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. to commercialise JR-141 for the treatment of Hunter syndrome
  • Wright Medical Group N.V. on its agreement to be acquired by Stryker Corp. in a transaction with a total enterprise value of approximately $5.4 billion
  • Biomet, the divestiture buyer, on J&J’s $21.3 billion acquisition of Synthes
  • Merck on its animal health joint venture with Sanofi-Aventis (ultimately abandoned). Awarded GCR “Deal of the Year” in 2011 in recognition of its size and complexity
  • Abbott on its $4.5 billion acquisition of Solvay’s pharmaceuticals and diagnostics business, which was conditionally cleared at Phase I

Private Equity

  • EQT on its acquisition of global secondaries firm Coller Capital—understood to be the largest-ever secondaries fund manager acquisition—and Baring Private Equity Asia on its ~$7 billion merger with EQT
  • Bain Capital on its $5.6 billion acquisition of PowerSchool Holdings, its $4.5 billion acquisition of Envestnet, its $3.4 billion acquisition of Mitsubishi Tanabe, its $8.5 billion acquisition of Hitachi Metals, its acquisition of Service Logic in partnership with Mubadala Investment Company from Leonard Green & Partners, and its landmark ~$18 billion acquisition of Toshiba Memory Corporation (by a Bain-led consortium including Apple, Dell, SK Hynix, and others)
  • Advent on its investment in Prometheus Group, its $4.25 billion acquisition of Baxter BioPharma Solutions, and its $2.7 billion acquisition of Nielsen IQ
  • TPG on its $4 billion sale of McAfee Enterprise to STG, its $14 billion sale of McAfee Consumer to Advent International and Permira, and its $4 billion sale of Wind River to Aptiv
  • Leonard Green & Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in Topgolf and Toptracer from Topgolf Callaway Brands
  • Kohlberg and Montagu on the $1.5 billion carve-out acquisition of Teleflex Medical OEM
  • THL Partners in the $1.65 billion sale of portfolio company AMI to Lattice Semiconductor
  • Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic on their $2 billion acquisition of Santander Asset Management
  • Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc. on the antitrust and FDI aspects of its definitive agreement to be acquired in an all-cash transaction by a consortium led by William McMorrow, Chairman and CEO of Kennedy Wilson, and other senior executives, together with Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited 
  • BV Investment Partners in the majority sale of CallTower, a global leader in managed cloud communications, contact center and collaboration solutions, to Court Square Capital Partners 
  • H.I.G. Infrastructure, the infrastructure arm of H.I.G. Capital, in its agreement to acquire International Aerospace Coatings, a global leader in aircraft painting and aviation services
  • Charlesbank Capital Partners and its portfolio company Tecomet in the merger agreement between Tecomet and Orchid Orthopedic Solutions    
  • Genstar Capital and its portfolio company OEConnection LLC in their agreement to sell a majority stake in OEConnection to  Francisco Partners

Technology & Industrials

  • Google in connection with several multi-jurisdictional competition law investigations, as well as its $4.5 billion investment in Reliance Jio Platforms
  • Nippon Steel on its ~$14 billion bid for US Steel
  • Xerox on its $1.5 billion acquisition of Lexmark International
  • Bloomberg on the antitrust aspects of its planned acquisition of Broadway Technology
  • Hitachi Rail on its acquisition of Clever Devices
  • Momentive Software, a provider of cloud-based software that powers mission-driven associations and nonprofit organisations, in its agreement to buy Personify 
  • Nexthink, a category creator and leader in Digital Employee Experience management, in its majority investment by Vista Equity
  • Blue Coat on the European aspects of its sale to Symantec valued at over $4 billion

Consumer

  • Monster Energy Drinks on European Commission investigations into Red Bull GmbH
  • OLAPLEX in its $1.4 billion sale to Henkel, a global manufacturer of well-known consumer and industrial brands
  • Galderma on the antitrust and foreign direct investment aspects of L’Oreal’s increased equity investment in Galderma
  • National Amusements in the Skydance Media / Paramount Global transaction

Aerospace & Defence

  • Jamco Corporation, Japan’s leading manufacturer of cabin interior equipment for the commercial aviation industry, and Bain Capital on definitive documentation for the acquisition of Iacobucci HF Aerospace S.p.A
  • H.I.G. Capital in the acquisition by one of its affiliates of International Aerospace Coatings, a leading provider of aircraft painting solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), major airlines and operators, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul providers

Areas of Practice

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