Manchester United Owners Eye RCB in Massive $1.8 Billion IPL Franchise Bidding War

RCB had long been regarded as the "choker" of the IPL and the IPL could be seen as a career for them until 2025, but that all changed when RCB finally won an IPL title for the first time; leading them to win their second WPL title as well. Since they have finally broken the proverbial duck, RCB is now being highly sought after in arguably the most competitive franchise sale in the history of Indian sport.

After winning the inaugural tournament, Diageo, the current owners, sought an assessment of their investments. Now there is a real auction for their investment, as many of the largest global corporations are vying for the ability to acquire the rights to be named the IPL 2025 Champion. Reportedly, there are nine bidders who have submitted non-binding bids for RCB with values ranging from $1 billion up to as high as $1.8 billion. A non-binding bid means neither the purchaser nor the seller has any legal obligation to complete this transaction.

Manchester United Owners Lead the Race to Buy RCB

According to reports, the Glazer family (who own Manchester United) are making an aggressive offer via Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital for $1.8 billion (give or take), and they are currently at the top end of the valuation range. Many people don’t know this, but Lancer Capital has an investment in cricket already through their Desert Vipers franchise in ILT20, who currently are the champions of the tournament. In late 2021, the Glazers made a bid for IPL teams (when there were two new teams being auctioned off) but were unsuccessful.

Out of a total of nine qualifying bids, their bid of ₹4,128.65 crore was lower than both RPSG Group (Lucknow) and CVC Capital (Ahmedabad) so they did not get an IPL team. Now the Glazers have a better understanding of what an IPL team is worth. The valuation of an IPL team according to the Glazers would be $1.8 billion or ₹16,321 crore. This is above the current range of $1.8 billion, but below Diageo's valuation after RCB's 2025 IPL title of $2.1 billion or more than ₹1800 crore.

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