Rajasthan Royals have finally found a buyer. Ending months of speculation, the IPL franchise is set to be acquired by a consortium led by US-based entrepreneur Kal Somani.
The sale is subject to approval from the BCCI and will come into effect after the 2026 season. British-Indian Manoj Badale held a 65 per cent stake in the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Somani is an Arizona-based tech entrepreneur who founded IntraEdge, Truyo.Ai and Academian. He has spent the last 15 years focussing on data privacy and security, AI governance and sports tech.
The consortium includes American business magnates Rob Walton – the heir to the Walmart group – and Sheila Ford Hamp of the Ford family that holds a majority take in the Ford Motor Company.
The other contenders were Times Internet-led consortium, the Aditya Birla Group and the Mittal family led by ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal.
PTI quoted a well-placed source as saying that the Royals are set to be sold for a $1.63 billion (approx Rs 15,290 crore).
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"Kal is an existing investor in the franchise. The deal is subject to approval from the BCCI and will be signed soon. The price of USD 1.63 billion reflects how far the IPL has come as a brand," the source told PTI. Another source compared it with the sale of Lucknow Super Giants to RPSG Group for just over Rs 7,000 crore in 2021.
All you need to know about the Somani-led consortium
The RR were acquired by Emerging Media Ventures, which was founded by British Indian businessman Badale, for $67 million in 2007 – the cheapest among the eight original IPL franchises then. American investment management firm RedBird Capital Partners and Fox Corporation’s Lachlan Murdoch were among the minority investors, according to Firstpost.
The Somani-led consortium also owns Paarl Royals in the SA20 and Barbados Royals in Caribbean Premier League.
Somani is also the co-owner of the Motor City Golf Club and an investor in TMRW Sports as well as the TGL Golf League.
Ford Hamp, meanwhile, is the owner of the Detriot Lions American football team in the National Football League (NFL).
The deal is likely to be announced in the next four or five days, the earlier source told PTI.
RR are the first IPL franchise to be acquired for over a billion dollars, but that record will be rewritten in the coming days as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, too, are up for sale and the value of the deal is likely to cross $2 billion.