RCB and RR sales: Everyone Is Talking To Everyone
Binding bids are due March 16. Due diligence has uncovered ownership, tax and operating complications absent from the sellers’ headline pitches.
Somewhere in Mumbai, a banker is running a discounted cash flow model for the fourth time this week, tweaking assumptions on the next Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights cycle. In London and New York, lawyers are parsing ownership structures layered over a decade of secondary transactions. In boardrooms across India, consortium conversations are happening over calls that began with “strictly between us.” Advisors are fielding calls they weren’t expecting. Consortiums are being assembled, dismantled, and reassembled.
Everyone is still talking to everyone.
Multiple sources familiar with the process told The State of Play that The Aditya Birla Group is in serious contention for Rajasthan Royals, a development this publication first reported in January.
American sports investor David Blitzer is also considering a bid, as Reuters reported last week. Blitzer, co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment and part-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils (NHL), has investments across five major North American leagues.
His family office, BOLT Ventures, has been in discussions with multiple parties, including The Times of India Group, Capri Global, and the Birlas.
Moneycontrol first reported a possible Birla-Blitzer partnership today. The State of Play has learned that conversations between the two parties have moved beyond initial talks, with one source describing them as “extremely serious.” An Aditya Birla Group spokesperson was unavailable for comment. BOLT Ventures could not be reached for comment.
Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital remains the frontrunner for RCB. It submitted a $1.8 billion non-binding bid for RCB, the highest disclosed offer, as The State of Play first reported on February 6.
