Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s sale bid soars to ₹18,486 crore:Defending champions on brink of getting new owner

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru have narrowed down the buyer list to just two as the sale talks have entered the final stage. It’s worth noting that the top two candidates left have already signed a binding bid, which means the interested party cannot withdraw from the deal if the seller accepts the deal. The sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), a subsidiary of Diageo’s United Spirits is buzzing topic among IPL enthusiasts for the last six months. Despite various reports of Manchester United co-owner Glazer and Serum Institute of India owner Adar Poonawalla’s interest, only two parties, one a private equity firm and the other a group of three organisations. Defending champions RCB’s new owner to be finalised before IPL 2026 As per Indian Express report, Swedish private equity firm EQT has placed a significant bid for RCB’s ownership. Meanwhile, the second bidder is a consortium involving Ranjan Pai of Manipal Hospitals, US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co (KKR) and Singapore-based investment group Temasek. While there were at least five parties that showed interest in RCB, after the Monday deadline for binding bids, only two candidates were left to potentially seal the deal. Among those who have withdrawn from the sale are the Glazers, co-owners of Manchester United, and Adar Poonawalla, who had earlier expressed interest in acquiring the franchise. What’s the highest bid set by RCB buyers? It has been learned, as per the same report, that the present owners were looking at a price around $2 billion (approx ₹18,486 crore). Earlier, State of Play had reported that Glazers, who had shown interest in 2021 when the Indian Premier League sold two new teams, had placed a non-binding offer of $1.8 billion (approx ₹16,658 crore). However, one of the two parties with binding bids, EQT have taken their bid to the range of $2 billion. However, the reason why so many buyers pulled the plug on such a fan-famous franchise was due to the IPL media rights deal, which might witness a boom in business. Anyways, even a final bid of $1.8 billion would be significantly higher than what the RPSG Group bought Lucknow Super Giants for – around $850 million (approx ₹7,866 crore) – in 2021. When will RCB’s sale deal be finalised? Notably, RCB’s current owner, the Diageo group, had set a March 31 deadline to finalise the deal. Now, once the potential bidder is finalised, the coming months will see the process move forward with a new owner likely in place only by September or October. Rajasthan Royals also in race for a new owner While RCB is entering the final stretch of ownership transfer, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have also received plenty of interest. But unlike RCB, the Rajasthan Royals have three parties that have submitted binding bids. Aditya Birla Group is understood to be a favourite as per Express’ report. Aditya Birla Group and US-based David Blitzer have formed a consortium and submitted a binding bid. Another consortium and a leading Indian media house is also understood to be in the fray. Like in RCB’s case, the deadline for the submission of binding bids was March 16. RR have been receiving bids in the range of $1.1 billion-$1.35 billion (between ₹10,180 crore and ₹12,494 crore) with the sale process being overseen by Raine Group, which oversaw the sale of franchises in The Hundred. The firm had overseen the sale of Manchester United and Chelsea in the past. A major flashpoint that’s worth noting is that the Royals are not in a hurry for a quickfire purchase like RCB, which might finalise the deal before March 31.