Travers Smith and Burges Salmon have taken lead roles on the acquisition of Bath Rugby Club by multi-millionaire supporter Bruce Craig.

Travers corporate head Chris Hale led the team advising Craig, who purchased the club from English entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword, who has been the majority shareholder of the club for the past 14 years. Hale was joined by senior corporate associate James Renahan and banking partner Andrew Gregson.

Burges Salmon corporate partner Rupert Weston was drafted in for Brownsword on the deal, which closed earlier this month after two years of negotiations.

Travers has longstanding links with Craig, advising him last year on the £975m sale of pharmaceutical services company Marken, for which he was the majority shareholder and CEO.

Hale said: "We've acted for Bruce for the past eight years on a series of deals associated with Marken, the company of which he was, until recently, CEO. He wants to ensure that his investment in Bath Rugby is a commercial success and to further improve the professionalism applied to the business side of the club. Above all, though, he wants to enjoy his ownership of Bath Rugby."

Weston said: "Andrew and Chris have been in discussions for two years about this sale. Andrew was absolutely clear that he wanted to find an appropriate custodian for the club going forward and that whoever took it on was doing so with the right intentions."

Craig has already started making changes for the team with the purchase of Fairleigh House as the new administrative headquarters and training centre, near to the team's training ground.