Amid uncertainty over playing in Bengaluru in IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) sale talks gained momentum on Thursday (January 22) with businessman Adar Poonawalla saying he will make a “strong and competitive” bid to buy the franchise.

RCB are the defending IPL champions, having won the trophy last year, their maiden silverware in 18 years of the league.

Also read: RCB non-committal on playing IPL 2026 in Bengaluru

Poonawalla, who is the CEO of vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India (SII), took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce his bid to buy RCB.

RCB’s value

“Over the next few months, will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for RCB, one of the best teams in the IPL,” Poonawalla wrote.

However, he did not reveal specifics such as a timeline or a potential bid amount.

Other than Poonawalla, Hombale Films, owned by Vijay Kiragandur, is also in the fray to own the RCB.

Hombale is the production house behind pan-India hit movies such as KGF and Kantara sequels. But an official statement is yet to be issued by the owners.

The effort to find a new owner for RCB, currently valued at around USD 105 million as per Forbes India, began in November last year by current owners United Spirits Ltd (USL), the Indian arm of global beverage major Diageo.

The stampede that killed 11 fans during RCB victory celebrations last year also accelerated the move to sell the team.

Praveen Someshwar, Managing Director & CEO of United Spirits Ltd, had said: “RCSPL has been a valuable and strategic asset for USL, however it’s non-core to our alcobev business. This step reinforces USL’s and Diageo’s commitment to continue reviewing its India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all its stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL’s best interest in mind.”

Will RCB play IPL 2026 in Bengaluru?

The United Spirits had acquired RCB from their original owner Vijay Mallya after his business ventures collapsed in 2016.

However, Poonawalla’s social media post comes at a time when RCB is speculated to be taking their home matches out of Bengaluru during IPL 2026.

In fact, Pune, Mumbai and Raipur are in touch with the franchise to host seven home-leg matches.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Wednesday had urged the RCB management to stay back in the city for their home matches, emphasising on the security and facility enhancements made to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

However, the RCB responded by saying that “there are still a few grey areas that need to be looked into, and we are considering these parameters and inputs from all stakeholders before arriving at a responsible decision for the team and our fans.”