MUMBAI: Better late than never. The dithering by the Board of Control for Cricket in India over issuing a letter of intent to CVC Capital Partners, the global private equity giant that had put in a winning bid for the Indian Premier league’s new Ahmedabad franchise, appears to finally be over.
Multiple media reports indicate that CVC, whose links to online betting companies had been red flagged (by UK-exiled former IPL head honcho Lalit Modi for some strange reason) after its successful bid for the new Ahmedabad franchise, is set to get the all clear from the BCCI.
CVC Capital will be given said LoI as “soon as the three-member legal committee has given the green signal”, a BCCI source said Indian Express.
CVC had won the rights to own the Ahmedabad franchise with a bid of Rs 5,625 crores, pipping “overwhelming favourite” Adani Group (Rs 5,100 crore) to the post as it were.
For the record, Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group made by far the biggest bid in committing Rs 7,090 crore for the Lucknow franchise.
In a related development, even as the go-ahead from the legal committee is awaited, the BCCI has extended the deadline for the two new IPL teams to sign three players before the mega auction set to be held in February.
The earlier deadline for new teams to sign players was December 25.
The two new IPL franchises can spend Rs 33 crore each on three players ahead of the auction. Just like in player retention, this too has a fee break-up: Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore for the first, second and third players, respectively. Also, among the three players, two have to be Indian.
Once BCCI issues the LoI to CVC, it can move forward on another matter which has been ” kept on ice” pending ever since the “betting links” controversy was raked up by Modi. And that is the issuance of the IPL media rights tender for the 2023-2027 cycle, which, it is worth recalling, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had stated in late September “will be released immediately after the appointment of two new IPL teams”.
Related reports
Wait gets longer for IPL players auction, media rights ITT dates
As BCCI dithers on CVC call, silence on IPL media rights ITT
VIEWPOINT: Fresh bids for 10th team fair option if CVC nixed
New IPL teams: CVC wins A’bad, Lucknow a trophy buy for RPSG
