Adar Poonawalla to table 'strong and competitive' bid for RCB

Bengaluru: India's vaccine czar Adar Poonawalla stoked fresh conversations about the potential sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru by stating that he would be tabling a "strong and competitive" bid for the defending Indian Premier League champions.

"Over the next few months, will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for RCB, one of the best teams in the IPL," Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of Pune-based vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India, wrote on his official 'X' handle.

This is not the first time Poonawalla has expressed his interest in buying the Bengaluru-based franchise, which is facing the heat from the Karnataka state government following the June 4 stampede last year, leading to the death of 11 fans.

In October last year, Poonawalla had posted, "At the right valuation, @RCBTweets is a great team…", triggering speculations that he might be in talks with the United Spirits Ltd-owned franchise.

USL is the Indian arm of global beverage major Diageo.

It's rumoured that RCB owners have valued the franchise, which perhaps has the biggest fan base among all IPL teams, at an astronomical USD 2 billion (appro Rs 18,000 crore).

The value of the franchise, however, varies according to different agencies.

Where Houlihan Lokey report estimated RCB's value to be USD 269 million last year, Forbes put it at much lower USD 105 million.

Poonawalla, the Pune-based businessman, however, may have to wait to realise his dream as the 19th edition of the league is set to commence at the end of March.

The June 4 stampede that killed 11 fans during RCB victory celebrations had also accelerated the move to sell the team.

In fact, Diageo had expressed its desire focus solely on its core business, which is alcobev business, in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange in early November last.

Praveen Someshwar, Managing Director & CEO of USL, had said: “RCSPL has been a valuable and strategic asset for USL, however it’s non-core to our alcobev business. This step reinforces USL’s & Diageo’s commitment to continue reviewing its India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all its stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL’s best interest in mind.”

"This step reinforces USL’s and Diageo’s commitment to continue reviewing its India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all its stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL’s best interest in mind.”

The timing Poonawalla’s post is interesting as RCB are reportedly looking at other venues -- potentially Mumbai and Raipur -- to host their home matches in the 2026 edition.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association president Venkatesh Prasad on Wednesday urged RCB to play their home matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, having secured conditional permission from the state government to host IPL and international matches.

RCB, however, sounded reluctant to return to their home venue for the season, saying: “There are still a few grey areas that need to be looked into, and we are considering these parameters and inputs from all stakeholders before arriving at a responsible decision for the team and our fans.”