Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited are among the early aspirants for reigning Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) (Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd.), two people familiar with the matter said. Diageo plc (LSE:DGE), which owns RCB's parent United Spirits Ltd. (USL) United Spirits Limited (NSEI:UNITDSPR), had begun the sale process of the IPL team in November.
The private equity (PE) heavyweights are evaluating non-binding bids for the stake, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. Global buyout firms including Advent International (Advent International, L.P.), PAG and The Carlyle Group Inc. (NasdaqGS:CG) are also evaluating bids for RCB, the people said. A transaction could value RCB between $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion, the people said on the condition of anonymity.
Until now, the bidding interest around IPL franchises was largely centred on domestic strategic investors and family offices, including the JSW Group, Serum Institute of India chairman Adar Poonawalla and Manipal Hospitals, according to media reports. There is significant interest in RCB, which won its first IPL championship last year. On Jan.
23, 2026, Serum's Poonawalla posted on X, "Over the next few months, will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for @RCBTweets, one of the best teams in the IPL." Spokespersons for RCB, Diageo, Advent, Temasek and Blackstone declined to comment. PAG and Carlyle did not respond to queries.
