BCCI will reveal details of the franchises who have picked up bid documents for 2 new IPL 2022 teams next week. Lancer Capital, whose principal is Avram Glazer, who is a member of the family that owns a majority stake at Manchester United football club, is one of the 22 business entities to have picked up bid documents for the two new IPL franchises. The details of the franchises are likely to be announced by the BCCI next week.
Among the other notable potential bidders to acquire the two new teams are Adani Group, the Ahmedabad-based infrastructure giants, the Sanjeev Goenka-owned business conglomerate RPSG, the Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, and Hindustan Times Media, along with a number of private equity companies. The bids will be opened at a walk-in event to be held in Dubai on October 25.
Lancer Capital, Avram Glazer’s Principal Is One Of 22 Entities To Have Picked Up Bid Documents For 2 New IPL Franchises
The teams, which will be a part of the IPL from 2022, will have to be based in any two out of six Indian cities listed in the tender document listed by the BCCI: Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Indore, and Lucknow.
While investors can bid for more than one city, they will eventually have to settle for one. A senior BCCI official said that based on how soon the technical evaluation of the successful bids is done, the board will determine whether to announce the two new franchises and the cities on the same day or later.
The bidding process for two new teams in the IPL is likely to take place on October 25, with the two highest bidders set to take the franchise rights. As a result, IPL 2022 will become a 10-team tournament.
According to the original timeline, the bids were meant to be opened on October 17, but it was delayed as the BCCI deferred the deadline to buy the tender twice – first October 10 and then October 20 – citing wide interest from potential bidders.
This is the first time the BCCI is adding two new franchises to the 8 team IPL event since Rising Pune Supergiant/s and Gujarat Lions took part in the IPL for two years – 2016 and 2017 – when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended due to alledged match-fixing offenses.
BCCI Set A Base Price Of Rs. 2000 Crores For Each Of The Two New Franchises
The BCCI is eyeing a big purse from the two new IPL teams set to play in IPL 2022. The BCCI has set a base price of INR 2000 crore [US$ 267 million approx.] for each of the two new franchises.
One of the requirements listed in the tender document is that the bidders must show a turnover of at least INR 3000 crore [US$ 400 million approx.] for the previous three years. If it is a consortium, then each investor would need to show a turnover of at least INR 2500 crore [US$ 334 million approx.] for the previous three years.
Large numbers they might be on paper, but some of the potential bidders have vast and diversified business interests globally. For example, on the company website, the Adani Group lists its “market cap of over USD 122.45 billion comprising six publicly traded companies”.
Another Indian business heavyweight, Jindal Steel & Power, has put its annual turnover at “USD 5.5 billion” on its website. Incidentally, Naveen Jindal’s brother Sajjan Jindal owns Jindal Steel Works, who is the co-owner of Delhi Capitals. This is the second time RPSG is attempting to buy an IPL franchise after owning the Pune-based Supergiant/s for two years. The group also owns teams in other franchise-based sports, including the ATK Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League and the RPSG Mavericks in the table tennis league.
Ahmedabad and Lucknow cities are front-runners to have a new IPL franchise represent them in the cash-rich T20 league, sources close to the bidding process have said. Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group is tipped to bid for a franchise from Ahmedabad. At the same time, the Glazer Family, owners of Premier League giants Manchester United, have also picked up bidding papers, a top BCCI official in the know of developments said.