<p>Bengaluru: A consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) on Tuesday emerged the lead bidder to acquire IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a whopping $1.78 billion (approximately Rs 16,706 crore).</p>.<p>Other parties involved in the group are -- Blackstone, an equity firm of which Viral Patel is the CEO, Bolt Ventures, owned by American investor David Blitzer, and media conglomerate Times of India.</p>.<p>“The consortium has reached an agreement with United Spirits Limited (USL) to buy 100 percent stake in RCB and the deal includes both men’s and women’s team of the franchise,” a source close to the development informed <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>The United Spirits Limited is a subsidiary of UK-Diageo, and they were keen to move away from RCB as the team was not central to their business plans.</p>.Invested nearly 7 crore to improve crowd management at Chinnaswamy Stadium: RCB CEO Rajesh Menon.<p>As per the sale agreement, Aryaman Vikram Birla, ABG’s director, will be the chairman of RCB while Satyan Gajwani of Times of India will be his deputy.</p>.<p>However, formalities such as ratification from the BCCI, IPL Governing Council, its WPL counterpart and the Competition Commission of India are still pending.</p>.<p>Earlier, IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals was acquired by US-based Kal Somani-led consortium for USD 1.63 billion (approx Rs 15,290 crore), The Somani-led consortium includes Rob Walton from the Walmart family and Hamp family (Ford motor company).</p>.<p>Somani is an Arizona-based tech entrepreneur who has founded IntraEdge (technology services and solutions), Truyo.Ai (data privacy rights and AI governance) and Academian (edtech services).</p>.<p>The other contenders to buy the team, which won the inaugural trophy in 2008, were the Times Internet-led consortium, the Aditya Birla Group and the Mittal family led by ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: A consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) on Tuesday emerged the lead bidder to acquire IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a whopping $1.78 billion (approximately Rs 16,706 crore).</p>.<p>Other parties involved in the group are -- Blackstone, an equity firm of which Viral Patel is the CEO, Bolt Ventures, owned by American investor David Blitzer, and media conglomerate Times of India.</p>.<p>“The consortium has reached an agreement with United Spirits Limited (USL) to buy 100 percent stake in RCB and the deal includes both men’s and women’s team of the franchise,” a source close to the development informed <em>PTI</em>.</p>.<p>The United Spirits Limited is a subsidiary of UK-Diageo, and they were keen to move away from RCB as the team was not central to their business plans.</p>.Invested nearly 7 crore to improve crowd management at Chinnaswamy Stadium: RCB CEO Rajesh Menon.<p>As per the sale agreement, Aryaman Vikram Birla, ABG’s director, will be the chairman of RCB while Satyan Gajwani of Times of India will be his deputy.</p>.<p>However, formalities such as ratification from the BCCI, IPL Governing Council, its WPL counterpart and the Competition Commission of India are still pending.</p>.<p>Earlier, IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals was acquired by US-based Kal Somani-led consortium for USD 1.63 billion (approx Rs 15,290 crore), The Somani-led consortium includes Rob Walton from the Walmart family and Hamp family (Ford motor company).</p>.<p>Somani is an Arizona-based tech entrepreneur who has founded IntraEdge (technology services and solutions), Truyo.Ai (data privacy rights and AI governance) and Academian (edtech services).</p>.<p>The other contenders to buy the team, which won the inaugural trophy in 2008, were the Times Internet-led consortium, the Aditya Birla Group and the Mittal family led by ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal.</p>