The Rajasthan Royals (RR) have become the first fully foreign-owned Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. The process of sale for the inaugural champions had been underway for the last 6 months. According to the Times of India, a consortium led by US-based entrepreneur Kal Somani, who is a minority stakeholder, has bought the franchise for $1.63 billion (approximately INR 15,301 crore).
New Rajasthan Royals owner
Somani had partnered up with Rob Walton, heir to the fortune of Walmart, and the Hamp family, who are majority stakeholders of the Detroit Lions in the National Football League (NFL). Walton co-owns the Denver Broncos. Meanwhile, Sheila Ford Hamp, wife of Steve Hamp, also holds a significant stake in Ford Motor Company.
As for Somani, he has a strong holding in the tech space. He is the founder of IntraEdge, Truyo, Truyo.AI, and Academian. Somani isn’t new to the sports world either. He is also the co-owner of the Motor City Golf Club and was an early investor in TMRW Sports and Tomorrow’s Golf League.
The previous RR ownership structure was spread across multiple stakeholders. Manoj Badale’s Emerging Media Sporting Holdings Limited held a 65 per cent stake, RedBird Capital Partners owned 15 per cent, and Lachlan Murdoch held 13 per cent. The remainder was split among individual investors, one of whom was Somani himself.
Just yesterday, it was reported that RR turned down a $1.7 billion (approximately INR 15,859 crore) bid from private equity group Columbia Pacific Capital Partners, led by Nisha Sachdeva and Debjeet Gupta. Whether this is true cannot be confirmed since RR has accepted a slightly lower bid by Somani’s consortium.
The four other interested parties, who were in a race to fully acquire RR, were Aditya Birla Group, with David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures; Capri Global; Times of India Group; and Sanjay Govil. In fact, it was believed that the Aditya Birla Group was the frontrunners. Perhaps their final bid didn’t match what Somani’s consortium offered.
Ownership handover after IPL 2026
According to NDTV Profit, the deal will be finalised once the IPL 2026 has ended. In normal circumstances, ownership transfer dialogue takes about 30 to 45 days. However, one must remember that the ownership change won’t be completed until the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approves the sale.
That can’t happen before October 2026, when the board holds its AGM (annual general meeting). Last year, the BCCI’s AGM took place on September 28 in Mumbai.
Cricket
Rajasthan Royals sold for $1.3 billion to Walmart & Ford consortium led by Kal Somani
