{"id":23778,"date":"2026-05-03T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/mittal-family-and-adar-poonawalla-plan-1-65-billion-acquisition-of-rajasthan-royals-including-international-teams\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T09:03:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T09:03:44","slug":"mittal-family-and-adar-poonawalla-plan-1-65-billion-acquisition-of-rajasthan-royals-including-international-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/mittal-family-and-adar-poonawalla-plan-1-65-billion-acquisition-of-rajasthan-royals-including-international-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Mittal family and Adar Poonawalla plan $1.65 billion acquisition of Rajasthan Royals, including international teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The Mittal family and vaccine billionaire Adar Poonawalla are set to acquire Rajasthan Royals, marking one of the most valuable and extensive franchise deals in cricket history, with international teams included.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Mittal family, led by Lakshmi N. Mittal and Aditya Mittal, has struck a definitive agreement to acquire Rajasthan Royals in partnership with vaccine billionaire Adar Poonawalla, in a transaction valued at about $1.65 billion, according to Mint and corroborating reports from Indian business media. If completed, the deal would give the Mittals roughly 75% of the franchise, with Poonawalla taking about 18%, while the remaining 7% would stay with approved existing investors, including Manoj Badale.<\/p>\n

The agreement is notable not just for its price tag but for what it encompasses. According to Moneycontrol and Business Standard, the purchase covers the Royals\u2019 Indian Premier League side as well as its overseas teams, Paarl Royals in South Africa and Barbados Royals in the Caribbean. The deal still needs clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Competition Commission of India, the IPL Governing Council and other regulators, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

The acquisition also carries a personal dimension for Lakshmi Mittal, who was born and raised in Rajasthan. In statements carried by Business Standard and Moneycontrol, he said his family\u2019s roots in the state and his long-standing affection for cricket made the Royals a natural fit. Aditya Mittal said the IPL had rapidly become one of the world\u2019s major sporting leagues, describing the Royals as among its best-known teams, while Vanisha Mittal-Bhatia called the investment an honour. Poonawalla, meanwhile, said he hoped to help support the franchise\u2019s long-term growth.<\/p>\n

The latest agreement comes after a more fluid and competitive sale process. Earlier reporting suggested that Rajasthan Royals had already been sold to a US-led consortium headed by entrepreneur Kal Somani in a separate deal worth about $1.63 billion, with other contenders including groups linked to Times Internet, the Aditya Birla Group and the Mittal family. That earlier account underscores how heavily the franchise has been sought after, and how sharply IPL valuations have risen since Rajasthan Royals were first sold in 2008 for around $67 million.<\/p>\n

Source Reference Map<\/h3>\n

Inspired by headline at:<\/strong> [1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Sources by paragraph:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: Noah Wire Services<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Noah Fact Check Pro<\/h3>\n

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
\n emerged. We\u2019ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
\n below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
\n warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n

Freshness check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>8<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The article was published on May 3, 2026, and reports a definitive agreement reached on the same date. This aligns with other recent reports from Business Standard and Moneycontrol, which also published similar information on May 3, 2026. ([business-standard.com](https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/cricket\/ipl\/rajasthan-royals-sale-mittal-family-adar-poonawalla-seal-1-65-bn-deal-126050300254_1.html?utm_source=openai)) However, earlier reports from March 2026 indicated that a US-led consortium, including Kal Somani, had acquired Rajasthan Royals for $1.63 billion. ([financialexpress.com](https:\/\/www.financialexpress.com\/sports\/rajasthan-royals-sold-for-over-rs-15000-crore-to-us-led-consortium-ahead-of-ipl-2026\/4182753\/?utm_source=openai)) The discrepancy between the $1.63 billion and $1.65 billion valuations raises questions about the accuracy and consistency of the reported figures. Additionally, the earlier reports did not mention the involvement of the Mittal family or Adar Poonawalla, suggesting that the current narrative may be a development or revision of previous information. Given these inconsistencies, the freshness score is reduced to 8.<\/p>\n

Quotes check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>7<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The article includes direct quotes attributed to Lakshmi Mittal, Aditya Mittal, Vanisha Mittal-Bhatia, and Adar Poonawalla. However, these quotes are not independently verifiable through the provided sources. Without access to the original statements or press releases, it is challenging to confirm the authenticity of these quotes. The lack of verifiable sources for these quotes raises concerns about their accuracy and reliability. Therefore, the quotes check score is 7.<\/p>\n

Source reliability<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>6<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The primary source of the article is Live Mint, a reputable news outlet. However, the article heavily relies on information from Moneycontrol and Business Standard, which are also reputable but may have overlapping sources. The heavy reliance on a few sources without independent verification from other reputable outlets diminishes the overall reliability of the information. Additionally, the earlier reports from March 2026, which did not mention the Mittal family or Adar Poonawalla, suggest that the current narrative may be a development or revision of previous information. Given these factors, the source reliability score is 6.<\/p>\n

Plausibility check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>7<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The article presents a plausible scenario of the Mittal family and Adar Poonawalla acquiring Rajasthan Royals for $1.65 billion. However, the earlier reports from March 2026 indicated a different valuation and ownership structure, which raises questions about the accuracy and consistency of the reported figures. The lack of independent verification for the quotes attributed to the involved parties further diminishes the plausibility of the claims. Therefore, the plausibility score is 7.<\/p>\n

Overall assessment<\/h3>\n

Verdict<\/span> (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL<\/span><\/p>\n

Confidence<\/span> (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary:
\n <\/span>The article reports on the Mittal family and Adar Poonawalla acquiring Rajasthan Royals for $1.65 billion. However, earlier reports from March 2026 indicated a different valuation and ownership structure, raising questions about the accuracy and consistency of the reported figures. The lack of independently verifiable quotes and the heavy reliance on a few sources without independent verification further diminish the overall reliability of the information. Therefore, the overall assessment is a FAIL with MEDIUM confidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mittal family and vaccine billionaire Adar Poonawalla are set to acquire Rajasthan Royals, marking one of the most valuable and extensive franchise deals in cricket history, with international teams included. The Mittal family, led by Lakshmi N. Mittal and Aditya Mittal, has struck a definitive agreement to acquire Rajasthan Royals in partnership with vaccine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23780,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23778\/revisions\/23780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.hbmadvisory.com\/amplify\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}