Bengaluru: United Spirits Limited (USL) has denied speculations about a stake sale in Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), its IPL franchise that recently won its first ever Indian Premier League title. This achievement has helped push the franchise’s valuation to more than Rs.17,000 crore.
“The Company would like to clarify that the aforesaid media reports are speculative in nature and it is not pursuing any such discussions,” the company stated in a response to the reports. The report claimed that USL’s parent company Diageo has not made a final decision and may not go ahead with the plan. Nevertheless, these rumours resulted in a 3% rise in USL’s share prices on June 10, reaching a five-month high.
This development comes at the heels of the stampede at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru where 11 people lost their lives in a stampede following the team’s victory parade.
The RCB, led by Virat Kohli, has been a founder franchise of the IPL. Before this victory, the team was mocked for not winning the title even once in the previous 18 seasons.
Originally acquired by Vijay Mallya, the team was taken over by Diageo after it acquired Mallya’s flagship United Spirits liquor brand. The original team and Vijay Mallya’s flamboyant personality featured prominently in United Breweries’ ‘King of Good Times’ advertisement campaigns.
