RP-Sanjiv Goenka group, equity firm CVC place winning bids as BCCI seals $ 1.7 billion deals

Dubai, Oct 25: Business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka and international equity investment firm Irelia Company Pte Limited (CVC Capital) shelled out a combined Rs 12,715 crore (approx USD 1.7 billion) to win the bids for two new IPL teams, a windfall that far exceeded BCCI’s expectations, here on Monday.
The BCCI was hoping for a cumulative bid in the range of Rs 10,000 crore but to their surprise, earned Rs 7090 crore from Goenka’s RP-SG Group for the Lucknow franchise, while CVC capital forked out Rs 5625 crore for the Ahmedabad team. The two new sides will take part in the 2022 IPL. PTI had reported on Sunday that Goenka was one of the favourites to win a team after having been in the IPL for two years in 2016 and 2017 when he owned the Rising Pune Supergiants. “BCCI is pleased to announce the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed): 1. RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7090 crores). 2. Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5625 crores)”.
The IPL 2022 season will comprise 10 teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play seven home and seven away matches, the Board added. Goenka was delighted to be back in the IPL and this time, as a full-time owner and not a temporary one, which was the case when he ran the Pune franchise during the spot-fixing related suspension of CSK and Rajasthan Royals. “Firstly, it feels good to be back in the IPL. But this is just the first step. Now, it’s really for us to build a good team, and try and put up a good performance. So the work really begins now in terms of actually getting the coach, putting together a team,” Goenka said after his company won the bid. “IPL has created some of the biggest brands. Look at Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and look at some of the others, they are really household names, some of the biggest brands the country has,” he added. Asked if Rs 7000 crore was economically viable, Goenka reasoned: “We do believe that the valuation of this will go up in the future. And from what we invest, to what it could be over a period of 10 years would be a multiple of a few times.”
He was also happy to get Lucknow as the home base as RPSG group has business interests in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The companies that cleared the final round of technical vetting to be eligible to place the bids included RP-SG, the Adani Group, HT Media Private Limited, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, All Cargo, CVC, Kotak group in a consortium and the Glazers of Manchester United through their equity firm. Rhiti Sports, best known for being former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s management firm, also placed the bid but was dismissed at the technical stage because official believed that it was fronting for an industrialist, whose relatives already own an IPL franchise. (PTI)