In a dramatic eleventh-hour twist to one of the most closely watched sports business transactions of the year, a consortium led by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, his son Aditya Mittal, and Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla has secured a majority stake in the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. The deal values the global business, which includes the flagship IPL team, SA20's Paarl Royals, and CPL's Barbados Royals, at $1.65 billion (approximately ₹15,660 crore). The Mittal family takes a commanding 75% equity slice, while Poonawalla picks up 18%. The remaining 7% will be retained by a group of existing stakeholders, notably Manoj Badale. The transaction is slated to officially close in Q3 2026, pending standard regulatory clearances from the BCCI, the Competition Commission of India, and the IPL Governing Council.
The mechanics of this deal are rooted in an aborted buyout by US-based investor Kal Somani, who was initially backed by heavy-hitters like Rob Walton and the Hamp family. When that $1.63 billion transaction fell through unexpectedly, it created an immediate vacuum for deep-pocketed domestic capital to step in. The Mittals and Poonawalla moved quickly to corner the asset, viewing the IPL not merely as a vanity sports project but as a highly defensive, cash-generating media property. An IPL franchise operates essentially like a closed-loop monopoly. Teams are guaranteed a massive slice of the central media rights pool—currently hovering around ₹48,390 crore for the cycle—meaning the base revenue floor is incredibly high regardless of on-field performance. For billionaires looking to park massive capital, the steady, predictable cash flows from broadcasting rights and major sponsorships make the $1.65 billion valuation highly defensible.
The strategic pivot from foreign private equity back to Indian industrialist ownership highlights a hardening reality in the Indian sports ecosystem: domestic billionaires are aggressively defending their home turf. With the upcoming sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru expected to push valuations north of $2 billion, the baseline price for entering the Indian Premier League has officially been reset. We are no longer looking at simple sports teams; we are looking at mega-cap media conglomerates. The consolidation of multiple international T20 leagues under the Royals banner also means Mittal and Poonawalla are buying a year-round global content engine, completely decoupling the franchise's commercial value from a strict two-month cricket tournament. It forces a fundamental re-rating for other mid-tier teams, proving that even a historically conservative franchise can command elite-tier multiples if the underlying media rights economics remain rock solid.
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