RCB Sale Heats Up: Blackstone, Mittal Family Join Growing Queue of Suitors

The sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), one of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) most recognisable and commercially valuable franchises, is getting crowded.

Private equity major Blackstone has joined the race to buy RCB when two binding bids are already on the table. The company has held preliminary talks to join a consortium with the Aditya Birla Group and David Blitzer, American sports investor, with stakes in several US sports franchises, Moneycontrol reported. If Blackstone formally commits to the process, its investment is expected to come from its overseas fund, which typically takes minority positions in assets.

The earlier two bidders include a consortium led by Dr Ranjan Pai, Chairman of Manipal Hospitals, alongside American private equity giant KKR and Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek. The second one is Swedish PE firm EQT, partnering with Premji Invest, the personal investment arm of Wipro founder Azim Premji.

Point to note: RCB is owned by Diageo, the British multinational behind liquor brands including Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The company has been looking to exit the franchise and has been running a formal sale process.

The field may get even more crowded as the Mittal family, led by Aditya Mittal, CEO of steelmaking giant, ArcelorMittal, is said to be weighing a bid for RCB, either on its own or alongside a partner, the report added. If that happens, the RCB auction becomes a four-way contest, pitching some of the biggest names in global finance and industry against each other for a single cricket team.

Notably, neither the Mittals nor the Birlas are new to IPL deal rooms. Both had previously explored acquiring a stake in Rajasthan Royals, which is running a parallel sale process. That race, however, appears to have found a front-runner. A consortium led by US-based serial entrepreneur Kal Somani, who is already an existing shareholder in the franchise, has edged ahead of rivals and is expected to enter exclusive negotiations soon.

The Mittal family's appetite for marquee sports assets is well-documented. Last year, Aditya Mittal and trustees of the Mittal family trusts joined a buying syndicate led by William Chisholm, founder of Symphony Technology Group, to acquire the Boston Celtics, one of the NBA's most storied franchises. The deal was valued at $6.1 billion, making it the largest sale of an American professional sports team in history. Private equity firm Sixth Street Partners was also part of that consortium.

Meanwhile, the IPL deal activity doesn't end with RCB. Earlier this month, it was reported that Sanjiv Goenka's RP-SG Group has been exploring the sale of a minority stake, up to 15%, in Lucknow Super Giants. The group has made clear it will only proceed if investor valuations meet expectations, and if the offers fall short, the sale may not happen at all.