'At The Right Valuation': Adar Poonawalla Boosts Speculations On Buying RCB

Billionaire Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India, on Wednesday said that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is a "great team at the right valuation". This comes amid speculations that he is in talks to buy the RCB franchise, along with other bidders.

People in the know told NDTV Profit on Tuesday that the negotiations are still ongoing. The Bengaluru-based Indian Premier League (IPL) team seeks a one-time payment for the franchise, they added.

It should be noted that Poonawalla's interest in RCB aligns with his diversification plans.

However, United Spirits Ltd., the current owner of the franchise on Tuesday refused to comment on the "market speculation". "The company would not like to comment as it does not respond to market speculation," it said in an exchange filing.

In June, Diageo Plc. was considering options for the transfer of ownership for RCB. The British distiller had reportedly held discussions with potential advisers and was seeking a valuation of as much as $2 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. United Spirits had said in an exchange filing in June that reports related to potential stake sale are "speculative in nature" and "it is not pursuing any such discussions."

Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi on Tuesday also fuelled speculations after he posted the news on Instagram, saying that the owners have finally decided to sell it. Modi wrote, "There have been a lot of rumours about the sale of an IPLT 20 franchise, specifically Royal Challengers Bengaluru - well in the past they have been denied. But it seems the owners have finally decided to take it off their balance sheet and sell it."

RCB, one of the founding teams of the IPL, was initially acquired by Vijay Mallya, owner of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., for $111.6 million, which translated to Rs 600-700 crore back in 2008. The bid was slightly less than Reliance Industries' $111.9 million bid for the Mumbai Indians, as reported by NDTV.

After Kingfisher Airlines folded in 2012, failing to pay creditors, Diageo took over RCB after buying Mallya’s spirits business. After 13 years, Diageo is reportedly considering to sell off the franchise.