As per a media release issued by USL, its board has approved the sale of the franchise to a consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, the Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone’s perpetual private equity strategy, BXPE. After this deal, USL said, both RCB teams, which were being run by its subsidiary Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, will now be “owned and operated” by the consortium.
Last November, global alcohol and beverage giant Diageo, which owns USL in India, said in its filings to India’s market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that it was conducting a “strategic review” of its investment in RCB. Diageo said cricket was a non-core area for the company and it was aiming to close the sale by March 31 this year.
The next step will involve the deal being ratified by the BCCI as well as the Competition Commission of India before the consortium formally takes charge of the franchise.
Among the eight original franchises when IPL started in 2008, the Bengaluru team was the second-most expensive at the time, bought for USD 111. 6 million by Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries Group. In 2023, RCB owners bid 901 crore (USD 110 million approx.) to buy the Bengaluru franchise in the WPL, making it the third-most expensive among the five women’s teams.
