In a recent development on the IPL franchise buyers list, a total of 5 parties have pulled out of the race to buy the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the start of the IPL 2026 season.

With March 16 to be the deadline, RCB was expected to attract 7 bids, while Rajasthan had expected 5 bids. However, it is reported that only three buyers are interested in RCB while the Rajasthan Royals has attracted four bids.

RCB Ownership Battle

Adar Poonawalla (with TPG), Times of India Group, Premji Invest, and Capri Global have withdrawn interest from buying RCB. According to reports, Swedish private equity firm, EQT, is the frontrunner in the bid raning between $2 – $2.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital had previously bid $1.8 billion and remains a strong contender with the highest non-binding bid, but does not have any local partners.

• EQT
• Avram Glazer (Lancer Capital)
• Ranjan Pai (with KKR + Temasek)

RCB’s owner Diageo wanted to sell RCB ahead of the IPL 2026 season as it considered the downfall of the brand value after Virat Kohli’s exit, despite having no concerns over the Bengaluru stampede, which affected the franchise deeply.

RR Ownership Battle

Only Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital has pulled out from the race to buy RR, primarily because, as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) rules, one single entity can’t have ownership in more than 1 franchise.

Meanwhile, the time of India Group and Capri Global, who withdrew from RCB’s proceedings, are still interested.

Meanwhile, the Aditya Birla group, along with David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures,  is the frontrunner in the race for Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Capri Global could likely partner with one of the other two bidders and is considered a dark horse for now.

• Kal Somani (with Rob Walton)
• Aditya Birla Group (with David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures)
• Times of India Group
• Capri Global

The group with the highest bid will mostly emerge as the new owners. If the bids are matched, then the franchise will make a call. Usually, the ownership transfer takes 4-6 weeks. But RCB has just 2 weeks to decide, as Diageo has set a deadline of March 31.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals, which is owned by Emerging Media Ventures, led by Manoj Badale, hasn’t set a deadline. Their discussions can be prolonged as they want to.

However, the ownership transfer has been approved by BCCIwhich won’t happen before October when the board holds its AGM (annual general meeting).