USL to start strategic review of investment in IPL team Royal Challengers Bengaluru
New Delhi (PTI): United Spirits Ltd (USL), part of multinational alcoholic beverages company Diageo, on Wednesday said it is going to have a strategic review of its investment in Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), the entity that owns IPL T20 team Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Hinting towards the sale of the business, USL, in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, said it is "initiating a strategic review of the investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary, RCSPL."
RCSPL's business comprises ownership of the “Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)” franchise teams that participate in the Men's Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League (WPL) cricket tournaments hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) annually.
RCB, the team that had India's cricket star Virat Kohli, won its first Indian Premier League title earlier this year.
The company expects the entire process of strategic review to be completed by the end of this fiscal.
"It is expected the process will conclude by March 31st, 2026," said USL Managing Director & CEO Praveen Someshwar.
According to Someshwar, though RCSPL has been a valuable and strategic asset for USL, it’s non-core to our alcoholic beverage business.
"This step reinforces USL’s & Diageo’s commitment to continue reviewing its India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all its stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL’s best interest in mind," he said.
RCB was one of the founding teams of the IPL, which was founded in 2008 by its previous owner Vijay Mallya. It came into the fold of Diageo, after it took Mallya's liquor business United Spirits Ltd.
RCB, whose home ground is M Chinnaswamy Stadium, won their first title in 2025 and finished as the runners-up on three occasions -- 2009, 2011, and 2016.
Earlier, in September, some media reports had claimed that Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla was in talks with USL for a possible acquisition of RCB.
Recently, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) platform, Poonawalla said, “At the right valuation, RCB is a great team,” signalling his interest in acquiring the 2025 IPL champion team.
Earlier, in May 2022 after a the strategic review of selected Popular brands, USL had sold and franchised selected brands to Inbrew Beverages.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
ALSO READ: Why remove Mahatma Gandhi's name, asks Priyanka on move to replace MGNREGA
The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
