The Mittal family and vaccine magnate Adar Poonawalla have taken control of the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals through a deal valued at $1.65 billion - roughly Rs 15,660 crore - marking one of the most significant ownership transactions in the history of Indian cricket. The agreement, announced on Sunday, restructures ownership of not only the IPL side but also two affiliated franchises operating in South Africa and the Caribbean. The transaction now awaits regulatory clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Competition Commission of India.
Who Owns What: The New Ownership Structure
Under the terms of the deal, the Mittal family will hold approximately 75 percent of Rajasthan Royals, with Adar Poonawalla - chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume - taking an 18 percent stake. The remaining roughly 7 percent stays with existing approved investors, including Manoj Badale, who has been the franchise's principal owner since it was purchased for $67 million in 2008.
Badale will remain involved in an advisory capacity. In a statement, he described his tenure as "the privilege of a lifetime" and expressed confidence in the incoming owners' credentials, citing their connection to Rajasthan and their long-term ambitions for the franchise. His continued presence is intended to provide institutional continuity rather than operational control.
The newly formed consortium will also own Paarl Royals, which competes in South Africa's SA20 competition, and Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League - extending the brand's footprint across three of the most commercially active T20 circuits outside the IPL itself.
The Mittals: A Family with a Pattern of High-Value Acquisitions
Lakshmi Mittal, the UK-based steel magnate whose ArcelorMittal remains one of the world's largest steel producers, is no stranger to high-profile ownership ventures. In 2007, he acquired a 33 percent stake in Queens Park Rangers, the London-based football club. His son Aditya Mittal, 50, who serves as CEO of ArcelorMittal, entered the NBA in 2025 with a $1 billion investment in the Boston Celtics - a deal that positioned him among a new generation of globally mobile capital allocating into premium sports franchises.
Aditya is expected to serve as the public face of the Rajasthan Royals going forward. Lakshmi Mittal, for his part, made clear that the acquisition carries personal resonance. "I love cricket and my family is from Rajasthan, so there is no IPL franchise I would rather be part of," he said in the official statement. His comments framed the purchase as both an emotional homecoming and a strategic investment - a combination that tends to define the most durable franchise ownership arrangements.
What the Valuation Says About the IPL's Commercial Trajectory
The $1.65 billion figure is not incidental. When Badale acquired the franchise in 2008 for $67 million, the IPL was a nascent property with uncertain long-term prospects. A valuation that has grown by more than twenty-fold in under two decades reflects the extraordinary commercial expansion of the IPL as a broadcast and sponsorship asset, and positions it alongside some of the most valuable entertainment and media properties globally.
The deal also signals a broader trend: the consolidation of franchise ownership within the hands of established industrial and financial dynasties rather than entertainment figures or purely speculative investors. Poonawalla's involvement is particularly notable given that the Serum Institute's global recognition - built substantially through its role in manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine - gives the franchise a co-owner with one of the highest international profiles of any Indian business leader.
An earlier reported deal involving Arizona-based tech entrepreneur Kal Somani did not materialise, and the months of ownership uncertainty that preceded Sunday's announcement had prompted questions about the franchise's near-term direction. The Mittal-Poonawalla structure, if approved by regulators, would resolve that ambiguity with a degree of financial and reputational weight that few prospective buyers could match.
Regulatory Clearance and What Comes Next
The transaction requires sign-off from two bodies: the BCCI, which governs the IPL and has historically maintained close oversight of franchise ownership changes, and the Competition Commission of India, which will assess whether the acquisition raises any concerns about market concentration or cross-ownership conflicts given the consortium's holdings across multiple franchise-based competitions.
The involvement of Poonawalla - whose Serum Institute has extensive ties with Indian government institutions - and the Mittal family's global corporate reach means the regulatory review is likely to be thorough. Pending approval, the transition of operational control to Aditya Mittal would represent the arrival of a new generation of ownership in Indian cricket's most commercially significant property.
