Virat Kohli now owns 6.4% of Agilitas Sports, up from 1.8%. The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal cleared the merger of his one8 label into the Bengaluru sportswear firm. He did not write a new cheque to get there.
Virat Kohli’s Agilitas stake rose because One8 Sports Private Limited has been folded into Agilitas Sports Private Limited. That completes the brand sale he agreed to in late 2025. Agilitas said in a statement that Kohli made no fresh investment. He had earlier put in ₹40 crore at a ₹3,100 crore valuation.
For a company less than four years old, that is an unusual cap table event. A celebrity founder has swapped his own label for a bigger slice of the parent. The parent now carries the brand and the hopes that come with his name.
What the one8 Agilitas merger changed
The tribunal approved the scheme on October 23, and the one8 Agilitas merger was reflected in the shareholding update six days later. In India, two companies can only merge with a tribunal’s sanction under the Companies Act, 2013. Shareholders and creditors get a chance to object first, which is why these schemes often take months. With that step done, one8 no longer exists as a separate company. It is now a brand inside Agilitas, next to the group’s other labels and its factory and retail arms.
Kohli keeps the title of one8 co-founder and remains closely involved in building the brand. That matters for buyers. The label is named after his jersey number, and he is still attached to it. What has changed is his role. He now owns part of the whole business, not one line of products.
For Agilitas, the merger removes a layer. Product design, research, manufacturing and retail for one8 can now run through a single company instead of across two entities. One set of accounts is also easier for the next investor to read.
How Virat Kohli’s Agilitas stake grew without new money
Agilitas has not published the swap ratio, so the exact terms are private. The most likely reading is simple. Kohli was paid for one8 in Agilitas shares, and those shares were issued once the tribunal signed off. Existing shareholders would have been diluted slightly to make room.
A rough worked example shows why the jump matters. At the ₹3,100 crore valuation tied to his earlier cheque, 1.8% of Agilitas works out to about ₹56 crore on paper. The same valuation puts 6.4% at roughly ₹198 crore. The difference, about ₹143 crore, is an implied price for one8 as a brand.
Treat that figure with care. It uses an older valuation and ignores the dilution from Agilitas’ June 2026 round. Private shares also can’t be sold on a whim. Still, it gives a sense of scale. On paper, Virat Kohli’s Agilitas stake is now worth several times his cash outlay. He built it from a label he grew with a global sportswear partner, and he never sold for money.
The structure also keeps his incentives tied to the group. If Agilitas grows, his stake grows with every brand, factory and store it runs. If one8 stalls but the rest of the business does well, he still gains.
Who owns one8 now, and how did it get here?
Agilitas Sports owns one8 outright. The label started in 2017 as a collaboration with Puma, and for years shoppers knew it as the Virat Kohli one8 brand sold through Puma’s stores and website.
That partnership ended in 2025 when Kohli’s ₹110 crore, eight-year Puma deal ran out and he chose not to renew. Abhishek Ganguly, who ran Puma India when Kohli first signed, went on to start Agilitas in 2023 with fellow Puma executives Atul Bajaj and Amit Prabhu.
In December 2025, Kohli agreed to sell one8 to Agilitas. Under that deal he joined as an investor and stayed on as co-founder of one8. The October merger is the legal end of that agreement.
Many fans still think of it as the Virat Kohli one8 brand, but it is no longer a one-person show. In April 2026, Agilitas named cricketer Smriti Mandhana a one8 co-creator. Her remit covers women’s cricket kit and high-intensity training wear. The move hints at how the company plans to widen the brand beyond its founder.
Agilitas Sports revenue and the one8 global expansion plan
Agilitas posted revenue of nearly ₹1,400 crore in fiscal 2026 and expects ₹1,800-1,900 crore this year. Those are company figures for the whole group, not audited results for one8 alone. Agilitas Sports revenue also includes its footwear factory and its other labels.
The one8 global expansion is the bigger bet. Agilitas wants to build one8 into a ₹2,000-3,000 crore business over the next four to six years. The first targets outside India are the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. All four have large cricket-following diasporas.
The rest of the group shapes how that plan could work:
- one8, the performance and lifestyle label, now merged in
- Lotto, the Italian sports brand, licensed exclusively for India, South Asia and Australia
- Mochiko Shoes, the sports footwear factory Agilitas bought in 2023
- Sports Yard, a multi-brand retail format
The factory is the piece most brand-led startups lack. India makes plenty of apparel, but sports footwear manufacturing at scale is thinner. Owning Mochiko gives one8 a supply base that a licensed celebrity label would normally rent from someone else.
Direct entry or distributors?
Agilitas is weighing both routes, and each has a clear cost. Going direct means owning customer data and margins. It also means paying for stores, staff and marketing in four expensive markets. Distributors are cheaper and faster, but they take a cut and control the shelf.
Picture the UK as a test case. A local distributor would already sell to cricket clubs, school teams and sports chains. One8 could reach those buyers in a season without leasing a single shop. The catch is data: the brand would learn little about who buys and why. For a label that still has to prove itself outside India, distributors look like the lower-risk first step, with direct online sales running alongside to collect that data.
Agilitas Sports investors and valuation
The cap table mixes institutional backers with a long list of athletes and entertainers. Here is how the main money came in:
| Date | Investors | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Convergent Finance | ₹400 crore | Early capital for the founding team |
| 2023 | Nexus Venture Partners | ₹100 crore | Expansion in India |
| 2025 | Virat Kohli | ₹40 crore | Personal investment |
| June 2026 | Nexus Venture Partners, Rainmatter | ₹225 crore | Growth round for factories and retail |
The June round came from Nexus and Zerodha’s investment arm. Ganguly said at the time that the company raised for expansion, not survival, and that Agilitas wants to build a $1 billion sportswear business from India.
The other Agilitas Sports investors include actor Anushka Sharma, who reportedly put in ₹15.78 crore at the same valuation as Kohli, along with cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Abhishek Sharma and singer Hardy Sandhu. Fifty-eight employees also bought in through an internal round in 2025.
No new Agilitas Sports valuation was disclosed with the merger. The mark tied to Kohli’s cheque is the latest figure linked to a named investor, and it predates the June raise. Any fresh Agilitas Sports valuation will come from the next round.
The case against reading too much into the jump
A 6.4% stake sounds large, but three facts temper it.
First, one8 is only one part of the group’s sales. The group’s footwear factory also makes shoes for global brands such as Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Skechers and Asics. That contract manufacturing is steady income, but it says little about whether shoppers will pay for one8 at full price. The company has not said how much of its group revenue came from the label itself.
Second, a label built around one athlete sells on his form and fame. Once he stops playing, it needs another reason to exist: product quality, price or a new set of faces. Bringing in Mandhana is a start, but one8 has not yet been tested without Kohli at the peak of his career.
Third, a private company stake is not cash. Kohli can’t sell his shares on an exchange, and their value depends on future rounds or a listing that may be years away.
None of this makes the deal a bad one. It means the headline number is a starting point, and one8 still has to earn the valuation that sits behind it.
What to watch next
Three signals will show whether the one8 Agilitas merger pays off for Virat Kohli’s Agilitas stake and for the brand behind it.
The first is fiscal 2027 revenue. Hitting the company’s own forecast would mean growth of roughly 29-36% in a year, while absorbing a merger. Agilitas Sports revenue at that level would also be the clearest proof the group can scale beyond contract work.
The second is the first overseas launch. Watch which of the four markets one8 enters first, and whether the one8 global expansion starts direct or through a distributor.
The third is the next funding round. A fresh round would put a current price on Agilitas and on Kohli’s holding, replacing the older valuation.
If you are a founder weighing an equity deal with an athlete, this merger is worth studying closely. Model the swap ratio, the dilution to existing investors and the brand’s revenue without the star before you sign. That is the test Agilitas now faces with one8.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Virat Kohli’s role at one8 after the merger?
Virat Kohli remains a co-founder of one8 and stays involved in building the brand, even though one8 is now part of Agilitas Sports rather than a separate company. He is also a shareholder in Agilitas itself, so his interest covers the whole group, including its factory, retail stores and other sportswear labels.
Who founded Agilitas Sports?
Agilitas Sports was founded in 2023 by three former Puma India executives: Abhishek Ganguly, who serves as chief executive, Atul Bajaj and Amit Prabhu. The company is based in Bengaluru and runs sportswear brands, a footwear factory and a retail format, aiming to build a global sportswear business from India.
Why did Virat Kohli leave Puma?
Virat Kohli’s eight-year deal with Puma, signed in 2017 and valued at about ₹110 crore, ended in 2025, and he chose not to renew it. He instead moved his one8 label to Agilitas, a company led by the former Puma India head who first signed him, and took equity in the business.
Does Agilitas own the Lotto brand in India?
Agilitas does not own Lotto outright. It holds exclusive licensing rights to the Italian sports brand across India, South Asia and Australia. Lotto sits in the Agilitas portfolio alongside one8, the Mochiko Shoes footwear factory and the Sports Yard multi-brand retail format, so the group sells more than one brand to different buyers.
Is Agilitas Sports a listed company?
No. Agilitas Sports is a private limited company, so its shares do not trade on any stock exchange. Investors such as Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma and venture funds hold equity privately. Their stakes can only be valued or sold through private funding rounds, secondary deals or a future public listing, which has not been announced.
Is Smriti Mandhana involved with one8?
Yes. In April 2026, Agilitas named Smriti Mandhana a co-creator of one8. Her role covers developing women’s cricket performance products and high-intensity training wear. The appointment widens the brand beyond Virat Kohli and gives one8 a dedicated push into women’s sportswear, led by one of India’s best-known cricketers.
