At least two consortiums have submitted binding bids for Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), the owner of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise and a subsidiary of Diageo’s Indian arm United Spirits, according to multiple industry sources familiar with the matter.
One consortium is led by Manipal Hospitals’ Dr Ranjan Pai along with US private equity firm KKR and Singapore investment major Temasek. The other is a combine of Swedish private equity firm EQT and Premji Invest, the investment office backed by Wipro founder Azim Premji.
Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla, who had submitted a non-binding earlier for the proposed transaction and was linked with a joint bid with private equity firm TPG, decided to drop out of the race and did not submit a binding bid, these sources added.
On October 1, 2025, Poonawalla had posted the following tweet on social networking platform X - "At the right valuation, @RCBTweets is a great team "
The deadline for binding bids ended at 5 pm on March 16, they added.
When contacted, EQT, Premji Invest, KKR, Temasek and a spokesperson for Adar Poonawalla declined to comment. Diageo said, “We do not comment on market rumour or speculation.”
An email query sent to Manipal Hospitals remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the parties.
It was immediately unclear if Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer owned Lancer Capital had put in a binding bid as well.
RCSPL’s business comprises ownership of the popular Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise team, which participates in the men's Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League (WPL) cricket tournaments hosted annually by the BCCI.
The submission of bids by suitors follow’s a strategic review of RCSPL (non-core to USL’s alcobev business) initiated in November and expected to conclude by March 31, 2026.
Moneycontrol has broken a string of stories on the high-profile sports deal since the beginning of 2026. On February 25, Moneycontrol was the first to report that Diageo had set a mid-March deadline for the submission of binding bids for the top IPL franchise.
On February 5, Moneycontrol was the first to indicate the interest of EQT and Premji Invest in the deal, as both parties submitted non-binding bids for RCSPL along with Dr Ranjan Pai and Adar Poonawalla.
Earlier on January 28, Moneycontrol was also the first to report that Dr Ranjan Pai had entered advanced discussions to form a consortium with US private equity major KKR, with Singapore’s Temasek also exploring participation as the third investor in the combine, if required. Investment bank Citi was running the sell-side process, the report added further.
“Though the sell-side ask for a 100 per cent stake in RCSPL is around $2 billion, a few prospective suitors are keen to value the target between $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion. Further clarity will emerge on valuations post due diligence, during the binding bid stage," the Moneycontrol report of January 28 had elaborated.
Private equity firms have invested and exited IPL teams in the past. In February 2025, the Torrent Group acquired a 67 per cent stake in Gujarat Titans from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, valuing the team at around Rs 7,500 crore ($833 million) as per reports.
As per the "IPL Valuation Study 2025" by Houlihan Lokey, the IPL business value has risen to $18.5 billion from $15.4 billion in 2023. On the other hand, the IPL brand value rose to $3.9 billion from $3.2 billion in 2023.
As per the study, RCB maintained the top position on the brand value chart ($269 million), followed by Mumbai Indians ($242 million), Chennai Super Kings ($235 million) and Kolkata Knight Riders ($227 million).
M&A action in IPL
Over and above RCB, there are parallel stake sale processes underway at other IPL teams as well.
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 highlighted. Incidentally, the binding bids for Rajasthan Royals is also due between March 16 and March 17.
British-Indian entrepreneur Manoj Badale's Emerging Media Ventures holds around 65 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals as per reports, with minority investors including American investment management firm RedBird Capital Partners ( around 15 per cent stake) and Fox Corporation's Lachlan Murdoch, among others.
On March 6, Moneycontrol reported that the Aditya Birla Group has 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.
Additionally, on December 18, 2025, Moneycontrol was also the first to report that a part stake sale was brewing at Kolkata Knight Riders, with the Mehta group planning to unlock value.
The KKR franchise is owned by Knight Riders Sports Private Ltd, which was set up in 2008 as a joint venture between Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment and actress Juhi Chawla and industrialist Jay Mehta-backed Mehta Group.
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