The Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise has changed hands in a transaction valued at $1.65 billion - roughly Rs 15,660 crore - with UK-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and vaccine industry heavyweight Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India acquiring controlling and minority stakes respectively. The deal, announced on Sunday, reshapes the ownership of one of the IPL's founding franchises and signals the deepening interest of India's global billionaire class in the country's most commercially dominant sporting property. Regulatory approval from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Competition Commission of India is still required before the transaction is formally complete.
How Ownership Will Be Divided
The formal press release from all three parties laid out the equity structure with unusual clarity. The Mittal family will hold approximately 75% of the franchise, making them the dominant controlling voice in all future decisions. Adar Poonawalla will own roughly 18%, a substantial minority position that brings with it both financial exposure and reputational alignment with one of cricket's most recognisable brands. The remaining approximately 7% stays with a group of approved existing investors, including current principal owner Manoj Badale, who first acquired the franchise in 2008 for $67 million - a figure that now looks almost quaint against the current valuation.
Badale will not exit entirely. The consortium's statement positions him as a connective presence between the franchise's origins and its new chapter, drawing on his long association with the organisation rather than its day-to-day commercial direction. That role, while undefined in corporate terms, carries symbolic weight: the Rajasthan Royals were among the eight founding franchises of the IPL and won the inaugural edition of the competition in 2008 under Badale's stewardship.
The Mittals: A Family Building a Sporting and Industrial Portfolio
Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal - the world's second-largest steel producer - has long maintained a personal connection to Rajasthan, the state from which his family originates. In a statement accompanying the deal, he described a lifelong affection for cricket that predates his decades in business. "I first played cricket as a schoolboy, and since then I have been an avid fan of the sport," he said. "My family is from Rajasthan, so there is no IPL team that I would rather be part of."
His son Aditya Mittal, 50, who serves as CEO of ArcelorMittal, is understood to be the figure most likely to take an active role in shaping the franchise going forward. Aditya entered the ownership landscape of American basketball earlier this year, committing $1 billion as part of a group investment in the NBA's Boston Celtics - a deal that underscored the family's appetite for high-value, high-visibility cultural assets. Lakshmi Mittal also purchased a 33% stake in Queens Park Rangers, the London-based football club, in 2007, establishing a pattern of investment in ownership structures that carry prestige beyond pure financial return.
What the Valuation Says About the IPL's Commercial Trajectory
A franchise acquired for $67 million in 2008 now changing hands at a valuation of $1.65 billion represents a near-25-fold increase over roughly 17 years. That figure is not an outlier - it reflects a broader, well-documented appreciation in IPL franchise values driven by media rights deals, expanding global broadcast footprints, and the consolidation of Twenty20 cricket as the dominant format in global consumption.
The inclusion of Paarl Royals and Barbados Royals - franchises affiliated with the Rajasthan Royals brand in South Africa's SA20 and the Caribbean Premier League respectively - within the scope of the new consortium adds a cross-border dimension to the deal. The Mittal-Poonawalla-Badale group will collectively hold these franchises, positioning the ownership structure as a multi-market cricket enterprise rather than a single-franchise investment. That architecture reflects a broader trend: the most valuable cricket properties are increasingly being packaged and valued not in isolation but as nodes in a wider global network of affiliated competitions.
Earlier Uncertainty and What Comes Next
The path to this deal was not straightforward. In March, credible reports indicated that a consortium led by Kal Somani, an Arizona-based technology entrepreneur, had agreed to acquire the franchise. That arrangement ultimately did not proceed, leaving RR's ownership status unresolved for several months. The Mittal-Poonawalla announcement puts an end to that period of ambiguity, though the transaction remains subject to formal clearance from two bodies - the BCCI, which governs the IPL, and the Competition Commission of India, which evaluates the market implications of large commercial deals.
Poonawalla's involvement adds a further dimension. The Serum Institute of India, which he leads, is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, and Poonawalla himself has built a public profile that extends well beyond the pharmaceutical industry. His entry into cricket ownership - at a valuation that demands genuine financial commitment - suggests that the IPL continues to attract serious capital from individuals whose primary identities are rooted in sectors far removed from entertainment or media. That crossover dynamic has been a defining feature of IPL ownership since the competition's founding, and the Rajasthan Royals transaction does nothing to diminish it.
