Virat Kohli’s RCB Sale: Are Manchester United Owners Set to Buy the IPL Franchise?

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team who won the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2025 has been the centre of one of the most competitive franchise selling procedures in Indian sport. Diageo, the present owners, were looking to sell the team to a company in a strategic assessment of their non core businesses and have appointed Citigroup as their advisor in the sale of the team and have sent confidential information memorandums to interested buyers. It has been reported that the valuation of RCB has surged after the maiden title, and the offers will reach or even surpass the value of $2 billion.

Is Manchester United Really Going To Buy Virat Kohli’s RCB?

Of the 9 bids that are non binding that have been placed so far, the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United and their investment arm, Lancer Capital, are considered to have made the most aggressive bid. They are projected to offer approximately 1.8 billion (approximately ₹16,321 crore) thus they will be on the highest end of the current bid range. The Glazers are not new to the ownership of the cricket team since they already possess the Desert Vipers franchise in the ILT20 which have already won that tournament. Although their offer is less than the 2.1 billion valuation that RCB is believed to be seeking, it still indicates the enormous commercial interest in owning one of the IPL’s most valuable brands 4/5 of which is explained by the immense fanbase of the team and affiliation with global star Virat Kohli.

Other bidders For RCB

The Manchester United proprietors are not the only bid takers, and other high profile bidders, such as Indian businesspeople and private capital suppliers, have been reported to be bidding. The media reports indicate that companies like Adar Poonawala, Dr Ranjan Pai, Premji Invest among others are considering buying a chunk of the profitable IPL franchise, which could make the sale of RCB to be one of the largest deals in the history of cricket should a deal be struck. This is because the current offers are non binding, which implies that there is no legal commitment but negotiations will continue to improve as the parties consider the commercial prospect of having a title winning IPL club.

Also Read: Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup 2026 Live Streaming: When, Where and How to Watch PAK vs NED Cricket Match live Telecast on TV, Mobile Apps Online