CVC Capitals, a private equity firm that won the bid to bag the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Ahmedabad franchise, has landed in hot waters due to its connection with bidding companies abroad and have to wait until the end of Diwali for its fate to be decided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
According to Indian Express, BCCI’s legal team will need some more time to complete due diligence on CVC Capital Partners’ investments in betting companies.
“The formalities haven’t yet been completed, the BCCI legal team is going through it and we are expecting them to revert us post-Diwali. The BCCI has full rights on whom they will allot the team, it’s the board’s discretion and we can only decide on a new IPL franchise (CVC) when the legal team reverts to us,” Indian Express quoted a source from BCCI as saying.
CVC Capitals won a bid of Rs 5,625 crore to acquire the ownership of the Ahmedabad franchise, which will join the IPL from next season. In case if the BCCI decides to cancel their claims, then the next best bidder – The Adani Group (Rs 5,100 crores) will be next in the fray to grab the opportunity.
The reports have further claimed betting companies like Tipico and Sisal are named on the ‘portfolio companies’ list on the CVC Capital Partners’ website. However, an official confirmation from the equity firm on the same is yet to be received.
Bidding in the IPL franchise is CVC’s first investment in Indian cricket. Prior to this, they had stakes in Formula 1 racing, football and rugby.
Earlier, the BCCI, in its press release, had stated, “BCCI is pleased to announce the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed).
- RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7090 crores)
- Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5625 crores)
The new franchises will participate in IPL from the 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play 7 home and 7 away matches.”
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