A consortium led by Aditya Birla Group and Times Internet Limited has purchased the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 16,660 crore. The acquisition was disclosed by the franchise owners in regulatory filings on Tuesday. United Spirits Ltd, the previous owners of RCB, revealed this information in mandatory filings with the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.
Bolt Ventures and Blackstone’s perpetual private equity strategy are also part of the consortium that acquired RCB. The franchise, one of the original eight IPL teams established in 2008, was sold off by United Spirits Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo India. The decision to sell its 100% equity stake in Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited was approved by the United Spirits Limited board in a meeting on Tuesday.
The sale of 14,690 equity shares of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited for INR 166.6 billion was sanctioned by the United Spirits Limited board. The sale was subject to conditions outlined in the Share Purchase Agreement among USL, RCSPL, and other consortium members. Upon completion of the transaction, USL will no longer hold any shareholding in RCSPL, making RCSPL independent of USL.
Aryaman Vikram Birla from Aditya Birla Group will serve as Chairman under the new ownership structure, while Satyan Gajwani of Times Internet Limited will be the Vice Chairman. The consortium also includes David Blitzer from Bolt Ventures and Viral Patel, CEO of BXPE. Diageo plc, the previous owner, had decided to sell RCB in November 2025, leading to a one-to-one negotiation with the consortium that eventually secured the deal.
RCB, the only franchise to hold both IPL and WPL titles simultaneously, won its maiden IPL title in 2025 and the WPL title in February 2026. Originally won by United Spirits Limited in the team auction, the RCB franchise came under Diageo plc’s ownership after it acquired United Spirits from Vijay Mallya.
