Adar Poonawalla, the owner of the vaccine maker Sriram Institute, officially confirmed on January 22 that he will be putting a strong and competitive bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 defending champions Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) over the next few months as the franchise looked for its new owner before the new edition of the tournament.

The official confirmation came after the speculation began in September that he is one of the front-runners to buy the franchise after the exit of IPL chairman, Lalit Modi, who tweeted about the possibility of Diego India RCB’s current owners deciding to put the franchise up for sale.

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“Over the next few months, we will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for @RCBTweets, one of the best teams in the IPL.” Poonawalla expressed on his official X account (formerly known as Twitter) as the news went viral in a short time around the social media platforms.

Adar Poonawalla shows interest in bidding for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of IPL 2026

The news comes at an interesting time as the RCB franchise’s valuation is at its highest after the maiden IPL title win in 2025. Even their franchise in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) had already won in 2024 and has a massive fan base, which is only going to grow over time. The celebrations of the IPL champions last year were marred by the tragic death of 11 fans in the Stampede case on June 04.

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Over the next few months, will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for @RCBTweets, one of the best teams in the IPL.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 22, 2026

In November last year, Diego took the first step towards divesting his stake in the franchise, as in a filing with India’s market regulator, the company revealed that it was conducting a strategic review of his investment in the Bengaluru franchise through the Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL).

The Royal Challengers franchise was founded in 2008 by the United Speeds Limited before being chaired by Vijay Mallya as one of the original IPL teams. Diageo took control of the side indirectly by acquiring a majority stake in the United States.