Sports
Steel and stumps: Lakshmi Mittal acquires Rajasthan Royals
The billionaire steel magnate leads a $1.65bn consortium to acquire the IPL franchise, upending a deal announced just weeks ago
RAJASTHAN: In a twist that blindsided Indian cricket, Lakshmi Mittal, the Rajasthan-born steel billionaire, has struck a definitive agreement to acquire the Rajasthan Royals, one of the Indian Premier League’s eight founding franchises, at a valuation of $1.65bn (Rs 15,660 crore).The deal pulls the rug from under a previously announced acquisition by a US-based consortium led by Kal Somani, which had counted Rob Walton of the Walmart dynasty and the Hamp family of Ford among its partners. That arrangement, unveiled barely a month ago, has now been swept aside.
Mittal will take the lead position in the new ownership structure, holding approximately 75 per cent of the franchise. Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, joins with an 18 per cent stake. The remaining seven per cent stays with existing investors, including Manoj Badale, until now the lead owner, who is reduced to a supporting role as institutional memory. Mittal’s son Aditya and daughter Vanisha Mittal-Bhatia also form part of the consortium.
The personal dimension is unmistakable. Mittal grew up in Sadulpur, a village in north Rajasthan, before building one of the world’s great steel empires from London. “My family is from Rajasthan, so there is no IPL team that I would rather be part of than the Rajasthan Royals,” he said. “I first played cricket as a schoolboy, and since then I have been an avid fan of the sport. I cannot wait to join all the fans on the pitch-side to cheer on our future success.”
Poonawalla, for his part, struck a cooler, investor’s tone. “Rajasthan Royals is a premier IPL franchise with a strong legacy,” he said, “and I look forward to supporting its continued growth and long-term success.”
Badale, navigating his demotion with diplomacy, said he was “delighted” to welcome the new owners and pledged to act as “a bridge between the past and the present.” The franchise he once commanded is now firmly in other hands.
The acquisition encompasses the Royals’ global subsidiaries, Paarl Royals in South Africa and Barbados Royals in the Caribbean, extending Mittal’s cricket footprint well beyond Jaipur. Completion remains subject to approvals from the BCCI, the Competition Commission of India, the IPL governing council and other regulators, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
The timing could scarcely be better. Rajasthan Royals are surging in the current IPL season, propelled towards the playoffs by teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The franchise that won the inaugural IPL title in 2008 is finding form again, and its new steel-backed owners will be watching closely, chequebook history and all.
