NEW DELHI: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday put an end to speculation linking him with the purchase of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise — and he did it in style. His remarks followed a statement from Diageo India, the owners of RCB and the Indian subsidiary of UK-based Diageo Plc, addressing rumours about a potential sale of the team.“I am not a mad man. I’m just a member of the Karnataka Cricket Association from my younger days, that’s all. I don’t have time, though I had offers to be part of the management… Why do I need RCB? I don’t even drink Royal Challenge,” Shivakumar told news agency ANI.Diageo India, the Indian branch of UK-based Diageo Plc and owner of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has firmly rejected rumours of selling the team. In a letter addressed to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and its Surveillance Department on Tuesday, June 10, a Diageo India representative stated that the media reports suggesting a potential sale are purely speculative. “The company would like to clarify that the aforesaid media reports are speculative in nature and it is not pursuing any such discussion,” Mital Sanghvi, the company secretary, informed the regulating body of the Indian Stock Market. “This is for your information and records.”According to a Cricbuzz report, Diageo’s statement was in response to a query from the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the company is publicly listed. Since speculation about a possible sale of the RCB franchise began circulating, shares of United Spirits — the Diageo-owned company that holds RCB — have seen a notable uptick.On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Diageo is considering selling the IPL champions. The report surfaced shortly after RCB’s maiden IPL title win on June 3 — a milestone achieved after 17 years — followed tragically by an incident in Bengaluru on June 4, where celebrations turned fatal, leaving 11 dead and many injured. Though Diageo officially dismissed the sale reports as “speculative,” the ambiguity of their statement has sparked deeper speculation. A seasoned voice in India’s sports business ecosystem suggested that “being a public company, there will be a lot of pressure on reputational damage,” hinting that Diageo could be weighing its options more seriously than publicly admitted. There are also murmurs about Diageo valuing the RCB franchise at around USD 2 billion. While some industry insiders view that figure as inflated — especially when compared to Torrent’s acquisition of Gujarat Titans at approximately INR 7500 crore (around USD 1 billion) — others disagree.
Lalit Modi, the architect of the IPL, told Cricbuzz that a USD 2 billion valuation for RCB is quite realistic.“I will not be surprised if it is sold for a higher price,” he remarked, adding that comparing the RCB valuation to that of the newer Gujarat franchise isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. “I will not be surprised if it is sold for a higher price,” he said , stating that the valuation of GT cannot be compared here since it was a one-year-old deal. The sale report remains speculative, as clarified by the Diageo official in the response to the BSE. “No decision is final and they may decide against selling the team, the people said, asking not to be named as the details are private,” the Bloomberg report say