RCB put up for sale; franchise to get new owner before March 31

According to a fresh report published on Cricbuzz, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise has been put up for sale. Interestingly, Diageo, which owns RCB in IPL and WPL, has initiated the sale process, and the new owner is likely to be announced before March 31 next year.

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On Wednesday, November 5, Diageo, the UK-based company, made the announcement official in a communication to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), calling it “Strategic Review of the Investment in Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd. (RCSPL).”

In its disclosure, the company said, "USL is initiating a strategic review of the investment in its wholly owned subsidiary, RCSPL. RCSPL's business comprises ownership of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise teams that participate in the men's Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League (WPL) cricket tournaments hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) annually."

Praveen Someswar, Managing Director and CEO of USL, commented, "RCSPL has been a valuable and strategic asset for USL. However, it is non-core to our alcoholic beverage business. This step reinforces USL's and Diageo's commitment to continue reviewing their India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL's best interests in mind."

In an earlier report on Cricbuzz, it was reported that a lot of parties are interested in buying the franchise. The Adani Group, the Jindals of the JSW Group, Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, and Delhi-based Ravi Jaipuria of the Devyani International Group are some of the companies among them. 

For the unversed, the news of RCB being put up for sale has been on the internet since the unfortunate stampede incident on June 4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, in which a total of 11 fans lost their lives and others got injured.

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