International investors, including Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer, are set to bid more than $1bn for the Indian Premier League franchises Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). The projected valuations are on par with or higher than the ₹12,715 crore ($1.69 billion) spent to purchase the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchises in 2021.
Eight Potential Bidders Reportedly interested in RCB The shortlist of prospective bidders for RCB include Lancer Capital (Glazer), Ranjan Pai from Manipal Group, Adar Poonawalla from Serum Institute, Times India Group EQT Private Capital Capri Global Sanjay Govil Premji Invest RR has five final bidders, and the overlaps are Lancer Capital and Capri Global; Times Group and Govil; tech entrepreneur Kal Somani.
Bids are reportedly between $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion for RCB, and between $1.2-1.4 billion for RR, according to non-binding bids. Both the franchises are available for a 100 per cent takeover. RR is slated to receive final bids early next month, while the process for RCB will likely finish in February.
RCB is owned by Diageo at present, which has categorised cricket as a non-core business and wants to sell it by March 31. RR is controlled by Manoj Badale (65%) and has a minority backer in RedBird Capital. The BCCI will get 5 per cent of the final sale price and the sales have to be ratified.
In general, the development comes in the backdrop of rising global valuation and investor interest around IPL teams, underlining the position of the league as one of world’s richest sports properties.
