Now, Arcelor Mittal promoter family led by Aditya Mittal evaluating buyout

In a big twist to the ongoing sale process of Rajasthan Royals, the promoter family of global steel giant Arcelor Mittal, led by CEO Aditya Mittal, is now evaluating a buyout of the IPL franchise, potentially pitting them against the likes of the Aditya Birla group-David Blitzer consortium and other suitors who have come together to submit joint bids, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol. Aditya Mittal’s father steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is the Executive Chairman of Arcelor Mittal.

“After picking up a stake in NBA team Boston Celtics as part of a consortium, the Mittal family is keen on bolstering its sports portfolio with a prized India asset and feels this was a good opportunity. They are bullish on this space as a group,” said one of the persons above.

Two other persons confirmed the above.

A fourth person added, “ Post due diligence, the deadline for submission of binding bids for Rajasthan Royals lapsed by the early hours of March 17. At least 4 parties have submitted proposals.”

In case their plans are finalized, the investment vehicle being contemplated by the Mittal family and whether or not they have held talks with a partner or plan to go solo for the proposed transaction was immediately unclear.

All the four persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Incidentally, Aditya Mittal, a sports enthusiast, who has served as the CEO of Arcelor Mitta since 2021, is also the co-founder of investment firm Arteqin Capital Limited which manages diversified portfolios across equities, fixed income, hedge funds and private equity. The firm focuses on six key areas – Consumer, Technology, Healthcare, India, Brazil and Decarbonisation

An email query sent to Arteqin Capital was left unanswered at the time of publishing this article. Reminders have been sent and this article will be updated as soon as we hear from them. A spokesperson for both Rajasthan Royals and Arcelor Mittal declined to comment.

Last year, in a $6.1 bn transaction, the largest sale of an American professional sports team in history , Aditya Mittal and the trustees of the Mittal family trusts joined a syndicate of buyers led by William Chisholm, the founder of Symphony Technology Group to acquire the Boston Celtics NBA team. Private equity firm Sixth Street Partners was also part of the consortium. Aditya Mittal will serve as the Vice-Chairman, Co-Owner and Alternate Governors of the Celtics, according to a deal disclosure. Reports suggested that the Mittal family invested $1bn as part of the above combine.

On December 8, 2025, Moneycontrol had reported that a majority stake sale process was underway at Rajasthan Royals, the winner of the inaugural IPL, targeting a valuation of $1 billion-plus, with The Raine Group roped in as the sell-side advisor. The same suitors may evince interest in both Rajasthan Royals and RCB, the report had highlighted.

British-Indian entrepreneur Manoj Badale's Emerging Media Ventures holds around 65% stake in Rajasthan Royals as per reports, with minority investors including American investment management firm RedBird Capital Partners (around 15% stake) and Fox Corporation's Lachlan Murdoch, among others.

Who else is in the race for Rajasthan Royals?

On March 6, Moneycontrol was the first to report that the Aditya Birla Group had teamed up with the group led by American sports investor David Blitzer to form a consortium and submit a joint binding bid for a controlling stake in Rajasthan Royals.

According to a February 6 report by the State of Play, entrepreneur Kal Somani ( an existing investor in Rajasthan Royals) backed by Rob Walton of retail giant Walmart and the Times of India Group are other parties expected to submit binding bids with NBFC Capri Global seen as a ‘dark horse’.

On the same day, in a parallel process being run by liquor giant Diageo for the sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Moneycontrol reported that a consortium of Manipal Hospital’s Ranjan Pai, KKR and Temasek and a combine of EQT and Premji Invest had submitted separate binding bids. The report had added that Adar Poonawalla had dropped out of the race.

Lens on Rajasthan Royals

Other than being the first team to lift an IPL trophy, according to its website, Rajasthan Royals has several other firsts to its credit - the first team to have an overseas captain and coach, the first team to have multiple home grounds, the first team to play two exhibition games overseas, and the first team to have a home and away kit.

The team's 2025 squad included the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jofra Archer and Shimron Hetmyer. In November 2025, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was re-appointed as head coach of the franchise, in addition to his role as Director of Cricket. Under Sangakkara, the team reached the IPL final in 2022.

In 2021, in a bid to expand its global presence, the owners of Rajasthan Royals acquired a majority stake in Caribbean Premier League franchise Barbados Tridents (later rebranded as Barbados Royals).

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