Blackstone, Temasek vie for IPL's crown jewel RCB
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Blackstone Inc. and Temasek Holdings Pte are among the early aspirants for reigning Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), two people familiar with the matter said.
Diageo, which owns RCB's parent United Spirits Ltd (USL), had begun the sale process of the IPL team in November. The private equity (PE) heavyweights are evaluating non-binding bids for the stake, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. Global buyout firms including Advent International, PAG and Carlyle Group are also evaluating bids for RCB, the people said.
A transaction could value RCB between $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion, the people said on the condition of anonymity. Until now, the bidding interest around IPL franchises was largely centred on domestic strategic investors and family offices, including the JSW Group, Serum Institute of India chairman Adar Poonawalla and Manipal Hospitals, according to media reports. There is significant interest in RCB, which won its first IPL championship last year.
On Thursday, Serum's Poonawalla posted on X, "Over the next few months, will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for @RCBTweets, one of the best teams in the IPL." An investment by Blackstone or Temasek would mark the biggest investment by a foreign PE firm in Indian sports. So far, the largest such investment is by European PE firm CVC Capital Partners, which acquired the rights to Gujarat Titans at $745 million in 2021, becoming the first PE firm to own an IPL team outright. CVC sold 67% in the franchise to the Torrent Group in February 2025 at a valuation of approximately $866 million.
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