This Stock Knocked A Century In 7 Sessions Amid Buzz After IPL Franchise RCB’s Sale

Shares of RPSG Ventures, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group’s holding and investment arm, have nearly doubled over the past seven trading sessions, taking its market capitalisation to Rs 3,716.60 crore from Rs 1,852.30 crore quoted prior to the rally.

From a share price of Rs 559.85 apiece on March 23, the stock has skyrocketed 99.42 per cent to Rs 1,116.45 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

On April 6, the stock logged a jump of 9.33 per cent, extending gains for the seventh consecutive session.

The sudden and strong rally came after United Spirits Ltd (USL) announced the sale of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for over $1.78 billion (Rs 16,565 crore) to a consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group, the Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures, and Blackstone’s private equity strategy BXPE.

Earlier the same day, hours before USL’s announcement, Rajasthan Royals (RR) also announced that Kal Somani, Rob Walton of the Walmart family, and the Hamp family of Ford had acquired the franchise for $1.63 billion (Rs 15,000 crore).

But Why Are RPSG Ventures Shares Rallying

After what can be described as a century-like rally in the RPSG Ventures stock, exchanges sought clarification from RPSG Ventures on April 1, asking the company to explain the sharp surge in its share price.

In its response, the company maintained that the price surge was “purely market driven” and said it was not in a position to attribute any specific reasons to the spike.

However, the actual reason behind the rally can be explained by the following factors:

Valuation Mismatch

The recent deals, which pegged RCB’s valuation at $1.78 billion, and RR’s valuation at $1.63 billion, raised the benchmarks for IPL franchise valuations.

RPSG Ventures, which owns a 51 per cent stake in the IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), quoted a market capitalisation of Rs 1,852.30 crore prior to the rally. Meanwhile, according to The State of Play, a weekly sports publication, LSG was close to raising $200 million at a valuation of $1.30 billion (over Rs 12,000 crore) in November 2025. That pegs LSG’s valution at 6.5x of its holding firm.

This implies that the market was valuing the entire listed entity, which owns a controlling stake in the IPO franchise, at less than the worth of just one of its key assets. This apparent mismatch, in turn, triggered a sharp re-rating of the stock.

LSG is just one among many sports clubs held by RPSG Ventures, including the popular football team Mohun Bagan, Manchester Super Giants, Durban’s Super Giants, among others. The sports portfolio itself forms only one part of the company’s broader business portfolio.

Apart from sports assets, the holding firm has investments across sectors including IT, FMCG, and restaurants.

In other words, LSG, despite being just a small part of RPSG Ventures’ broader portfolio, appears to be more valuable than the parent company itself. This valuation mismatch drove the rally in the stock, and the premium pricing of RCB in the latest deal acted as the key trigger.

Holding Company Discount

Like most holding companies, RPSG Ventures has historically traded at a discount to the value of its underlying assets, largely due to limited visibility on monetisation and the inherent complexity of its structure.

The RCB sale provided a clear valuation benchmark, which prompted investors to re-rate the stock.

Scarcity Premium

There are only 10 IPL franchises in existence, which makes them inherently scarce assets. Unlike typical businesses, you cannot simply create more teams. That means, there is a limited supply of such assets.

After the RCB and RR sale, a growing number of billionaires and institutional investors are looking to own a piece of the IPL franchises. This simply means the demand is rising. A limited supply and strong demand naturally pushes valuations higher.