Bengaluru: A consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) Tuesday emerged the lead bidder to acquire IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a whopping USD 1.78 billion (approximately Rs 16,706 crore).
Other parties involved in the group are Blackstone, an equity firm of which Viral Patel is the CEO, Bolt Ventures, owned by American investor David Blitzer, and media conglomerate Times of India.
“The consortium has reached an agreement with United Spirits Limited (USL) to buy 100 per cent stake in RCB, and the deal includes both men’s and women’s team of the franchise,” a source close to the development informed News.
The United Spirits Limited is a subsidiary of UK-Diageo, and they were keen to move away from RCB as the team was not central to their business plans.
As per the sale agreement, Aryaman Vikram Birla, ABG’s director, will be the chairman of RCB while Satyan Gajwani of Times of India will be his deputy.
However, formalities such as ratification from the BCCI, IPL Governing Council, its WPL counterpart, and the Competition Commission of India are still pending.
Earlier, IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals was acquired by US-based Kal Somani-led consortium for USD 1.63 billion (approx Rs 15,290 crore),
The Somani-led consortium includes Rob Walton from the Walmart family and Hamp family (Ford Motor Company).
Somani is an Arizona-based tech entrepreneur who has founded IntraEdge (technology services and solutions), Truyo.Ai (data privacy rights and AI governance) and Academian (edtech services).
The other contenders to buy the team, which won the inaugural trophy in 2008, were the Times Internet-led consortium, the Aditya Birla Group and the Mittal family led by ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal.
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