Nikhil Kamath co-Founder of Zerodha has emerged as the front-runner to acquire Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), as per media reports. This development has set Bengaluru’s business and cricket circles abuzz because Kamath’s local roots, younger-skewing investor profile and deep pockets make him a natural suitor for a city franchise that just delivered its first IPL title, and multiple outlets name him as a leading bidder or potential lead of a consortium to buy RCB.

Other heavyweight names floated in the same breath include Ranjan Pai of the Manipal Group, Adar Poonawalla of Serum Institute, and big corporate houses (Adani and JSW) and private equity players. The race seems crowded with both homegrown billionaires and strategic/financial suitors rather than a single obvious buyer.

Diageo (through United Spirits) has put RCB into a formal strategic review and advisers have been engaged to run a sale process expected to conclude around the end of Q1 2026.  It is reported that the seller’s target is roughly 2 billion for the franchise.

Diageo appears to be running a strategic review of non-core assets in India and globally, and RCB, notwithstanding its commercial peak after finally winning the IPL, represents an opportune moment to realise value at possibly the franchise’s highest ever valuation while the company refocuses on core alcoholic beverage operations; and governance overlays (including intense scrutiny post final IPL match even wherein 11 fans died in a stampede).