BackIPL tender gets an overwhelming response
IPL tender gets an overwhelming response
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New Delhi: The base bid price of $225 million (Rs1,040 crore) for two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams notwithstanding, the Mumbai offices of IPL and its governing body, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), were abuzz with enquiries from potential investors responding to the tender notice published in newspapers on Monday.
The base price is more than four times the $50 million reserve price for the teams when the quick-format cricket league was launched a couple of years ago.
“There has been very good interest in the tenders and this is only Day One," said Sundar Raman, chief executive, IPL.
The winning bids will be announced on 7 March.
A BCCI official said energy-to-logistics conglomerate Adani Group, media buying agency GroupM India Pvt. Ltd, and sports management firm Percept Ltd, among others, made enquiries about the terms in the tender.
The official did not want to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
“There is no interest in buying an IPL team," said Devendra Amin, spokesman for Adani Group.
Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept, said the firm was “batting for two parties who are interested in buying the new IPL teams on offer".
He did not disclose the names of the companies.
An executive from a rival media buying agency said Percept was representing Sahara India group and Abu Dhabi-based United Group Holdings, which owns the Manchester City football team that plays in the English Premier League.
An executive at Sahara said the company was “studying the rules and regulations in the tender document before making a decision".
United Group Holdings did not respond to phone calls on Monday, and had earlier declined to comment on Mint’s queries on the matter.
A senior executive at GroupM did not disclose the name of the client the firm was representing at IPL, but said 20-30 bidders were in the race for the two new teams.
Some ministers, actors and corporate executives are also interested in bidding for the new teams, according to executives at media agencies and team franchises.
Mint could not independently confirm the claims.
“The actual momentum will pick up next week," said Niranjan Shah, vice-president of IPL.
“Right now, we will see only speculative interest."
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