RCB Sale Finally Done! Aditya Birla, Others Seal ₹16,600 Cr for Bengaluru's Beloved IPL Franchise

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), one of the Indian Premier League's most popular and recognisable cricket franchises, has a new owner. A consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group, along with The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures, and global investment giant Blackstone, has signed a formal agreement to buy a full 100% stake in RCB. The deal covers both the men's and women's premier league teams.

The franchise is being bought from United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo. The deal values RCB at $1.78 billion, or roughly ₹16,600 crore, making it one of the most expensive franchise sales in the recent history of Indian cricket.

The deal still needs the green light from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the IPL Governing Council, and other regulatory bodies before it becomes official.

Who Takes Charge

Once the deal closes after the 2026 IPL season, Aryaman Vikram Birla, director at the Aditya Birla Group and son of Kumar Mangalam Birla, will take over as Chairman of the franchise. Meanwhile, Satyan Gajwani, senior executive of The Times of India Group, will serve as Vice-Chairman.

Interestingly, Aryaman isn't just a business heir, he's a former cricketer himself. Despite being born into one of India's richest families, Aryaman pursued cricket. He was a standout performer in Madhya Pradesh's junior circuit and made his Ranji Trophy debut in November 2017 against Odisha.

His finest moment on the field came during the 2018 Ranji season in Kolkata, where he scored an unbeaten century against Bengal. That innings caught the attention of IPL talent scouts, and Rajasthan Royals (RR) picked him up for ₹30 lakh at the 2018 IPL auction.

As a right-handed all-rounder, he spent two seasons with RR (2018–19), but he never made it to the playing eleven. Despite the limited opportunity, Aryaman had notched up 414 first-class runs in domestic cricket. RR eventually released him before the 2020 season, and at just 22 years old, he announced an indefinite break from the game.

What The New Owners Are Saying

For Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, IPL is far more than a cricket tournament. In his view, it has fundamentally changed the face of the sport in India while creating substantial wealth along the way.

"RCB, as one of the most compelling franchises in modern sport, offers the Aditya Birla Group a distinctive platform to extend its legacy of institution-building into the arena of global sport," he said as quoted by Times of India.

Gajwani said the new ownership group intends to grow RCB into a globally recognised sports brand while staying deeply connected to its home base. "We will build RCB into a global sporting institution, while remaining rooted in Bengaluru and Karnataka and its incredible fanbase," he said, adding that the commitment extends to the players, coaches, and the championship-winning culture the team has built.

RCB clearly didn't lack for interested buyers. The sale process reportedly drew serious interest from a number of high-profile names, including vaccine manufacturer Adar Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India and healthcare entrepreneur Dr Ranjan Pai of Manipal Hospitals. Other suitors included global private equity firms EQT, TPG and Temasek, and even the Glazer family, the American dynasty that owns English football club Manchester United. Ultimately, the Aditya Birla-led group emerged as the winning bidder.