MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rajasthan Royals, is likely to sell equity to American investment firm, Tiger Global Management, a news report has indicated.
According to a report in The Economic Times newspaper, the New York-based firm is planning to invest $40 million in Rajasthan Royals at a valuation of $650 million. The deal is nearly complete according to people in the know, the report said.
Rajasthan Royals, the champions of the inaugural edition of IPL, is majority-owned by Manoj Badale, co-founder and managing partner of venture capital firm Blenheim Chalcot, while Tiger Global is an investment firm focused on public and private companies in the global Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries.
In 2021, US-based RedBird Capital picked up shares in a secondary deal valuing Rajasthan Royals at more than $250 million.
As per the report, the capital infusion could be a direct or an indirect one, wherein Tiger Global may back one of the shareholders in Rajasthan Royals. The deal with Rajasthan Royals comes as the investor was scouting for opportunities in the IPL. This would be Tiger Global’s expansion beyond the digital ecommerce space, for which it is widely known. Tiger Global is an early backer of e-commerce giant Flipkart.
Tiger Global, known for investing in Indian companies like Flipkart, Zomato, Ola and Delhivery and also holds a stake in Dream11, an online fantasy gaming brand.
