Adar poonawalla

Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International: Pharma tycoon Adar Poonawalla said he will make a ‘strong and competitive’ bid for securing the ownership of the reigning champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

"Over the next few months, we will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for RCB, one of the best teams in the IPL," Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of Pune-based vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India (SII) and Chairman of Poonawalla Fincorp, wrote in a post on his official ‘X’ handle on Thursday.

London-based Diageo, the parent company of United Spirits Ltd, began efforts in November last year to sell the team, valued at around 105 million USD. The move was accelerated after a stampede during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in June 2025 killed 11 fans.