Swiggy IPO breaks legal fees: how law firms charge companies in RS 1.5 Lakh CR Boom

The IPO Boom of India in 2024-2025 was not only a story about companies that collect record money, but also made substantial payments for law firms. According to a bar and bench report, legal advisers have taken crores in reimbursements and cashed in the frenzy.

The fiscal year was the largest ever for the primary markets of India, with IPOs that together raised more than RS 1.5 Lakh Crore. The striking deal was for the RS 11,327 CRORE IPO from food supply Giant Swiggy, who only generated RS 20.7 Crore in legal costs for Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and vibration, who advised on this issue.

This made it the biggest payment of the reimbursement to lawyers among all IPOs in 2024-25, higher than even larger issues such as Hyundai India and HDB Financial.

Hyundai’s RS 27,858 Crore IPO paid approximately RS 6.4 Crore in reimbursements to Khaitan and Co and JSA, who acted as advisers. The RS 12,500 Crore issue of HDB Financial spent on RS 15 Crore, treated by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Vishal Megamart, with an RS 8,000 crore IPO, paid RS 12.1 Crore, where TrileGal belonged to the main advisers. Swiggy, even though it was smaller than Hyundai for the number width, was at the top of the graph on absolute compensation.

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The report also shows that large IPOs above RS have attracted 5,000 crore legal costs in the reach of RS 6-20 Crore, depending on the complexity. For medium-sized issues between RS 1,000 Crore and RS 5,000 crore, lawyers were invoiced in the reach of RS 3-8 crore per deal.

It should be noted that IPO costs are not always in accordance with the size of the problem. They depend on factors such as the complexity of the regulations, the structuring of new problems versus offer for sales, the number of sales shareholders and coordination with overseas investors. Swiggy’s IPO included a mix of this, making it legally more intensive.

The IPO market is dominated by a handful of law firms. STRILEGAL, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co and JSA jointly used around 56% of all IPO mandates during FY25.

Within this group, only Trilegal, Cam and Sam accounted for around 44% of the total mandates.

Why are there high legal costs for IPOs

Legal consultancy costs are also an important part of the total costs of IPOs, which are complex, worldwide participation and are sensitive to time. All these factors increase the legal costs.

Sebi’s tighter disclosure regime and the growing preference for pre-ipo rounds also add layers of checking, for which lawyers are equipped to handle.

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