Mumbai: Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures, and Blackstone have signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise that will include both the men and women’s teams.The Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchises are being acquired from United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo plc. The transaction has valued the franchise at US$1.78b (approx. INR 16,600 crore).
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval from BCCI, the IPL governing council and other authorities.The franchise, under its new ownership structure post the 2026 edition, will see Aryaman Vikram Birla, director at Aditya Birla Group serve as chairman while Satyan Gajwani of the Times of India Group will be the vice-chairman.“Over the past 2 decades, the IPL has morphed to become a global sporting powerhouse that has changed the face of Indian cricket creating enormous value for India. RCB, as one of the most compelling franchises in modern sport, offers the Aditya Birla Group a distinctive platform to extend its legacy of institution-building into the arena of global sport. We are delighted to become custodians of this asset and committed to further building this extraordinary legacy,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.
File photo of Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group.
Times Internet Limited’s Gajwani said in a media note, “RCB is the reigning champion and the most popular brand in the IPL. As The Times of India Group, together with our partners, we will build RCB into a global sporting institution, while remaining rooted in Bengaluru and Karnataka and its incredible fanbase. We are committed to the people who built this championship-winning culture – the players, coaches, the leadership team, and the fans. We look forward to supporting the team as they take the pitch on Saturday to defend RCB’s title.”
File photo of Satyan Gajwani of the Times of India group.
Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, Ranjan Pai of Manipal Hospitals, private equity firms EQT, TPG and Temasek and the Glazer family that owns the Manchester United club were among the other interested bidders when Diageo Plc had first initiated the process to sell RCB.In 2008, when the BCCI floated IPL, United Spirits had submitted a winning bid of US$111.6m (approx Rs 485 cr) to acquire the Bangalore franchise. In 2023, the RCB management had paid another Rs 901 crore to acquire the WPL team. In 2024, RCB won the WPL and followed it up with their first-ever IPL title win in 2025.The franchise has featured some of T20’s greatest icons including Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Anil Kumble, Glenn Maxwell, Yuvraj Singh and Faf du Plessis among others.
Virat Kohli led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team before Rajat Patidar took over. (Photo Credit- X/RCB)
In 2013, after Kohli took over as captain of the IPL, the franchise’s popularity catapulted from being just one among the eight teams to becoming one of the most popular and sought-after properties in the tournament.Kohli’s rise as Team India captain and cricket’s most authoritative brand coincided with RCB’s rise as one of IPL’s most followed teams. Despite the lack of a title win in 17 years, the franchise acquired mass following among fans in Karnataka, across the country and social media.As of 2026, RCB remains right on top where its social media reach and general popularity across broadcast media is concerned.In 2025, Brand Finance had listed RCB as IPL’s second most valuable brand after Mumbai Indians and among the top three strongest IPL brands alongside Mumbai and Chennai. The same year, global investment bank Houlihan Lokey had also listed the RCB as IPL’s foremost brand.
