Chennai Super Kings: Fate of IPL team after UltraTech acquires India Cements shares

With UltraTech Cements set to acquire stake in India Cements, many may wonder about what changes for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The short answer? Nothing much, according to an NDTV report.

Given past conflict of interest issues with regards to Indian Premier League (IPL) team and hiving off of the team's holding company from ICL in 2015, the current acquisition will likely have next to no impact on CSK's daily operations or ownership, the report added.

We take a look at details

• As per the Chennai Super Kings Annual Report, 2022-23, the India Cements Shareholders’ Trust which held the team has distributed shares to eligible promoters and non-promoters of India Cements. This brings the Trust's stake in the team company down from 30 per cent in FY22, to 1.76 per cent in FY23.
• Franchise owner N Srinivasan and his family hold majority 28.14 per cent stake after the company was hived off to an independent entity in 2015 when Srinivasan was appointed to head the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

• The conflict of interest was much debated as Srinivasan was on the BCCI and India Cements leadership. During the separation, each ICL shareholder was given proportional shareholding in CSK, the NDTV report added.
• A similar issue came up when Srinivasan's daughter Rupa Gurunath, also on the ICL board was appointed as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) in 2019. She was the first woman to take the position and resigned in December 2021 after conflict of interest rumblings grew louder.

• The Trust distributed 384,882 shares of CSK to non-promoter shareholders of ICL and 8.67 crore shares to promoters, the report said.
• Shareholders listed in the report include EWS Finance & Investments (21.47 per cent); Gurunath, as trustee of the Financial Services & Securities Services Trust (6.48 per cent); N. Srinivasan (0.14 per cent); Chitra Srinivasan (0.02 per cent); Rupa Gurunath (0.01 per cent); SK Ashok Baalaje (0.02 per cent); and Rajam Krishnamurthy (1,940 shares), NDTV reported.