There
often is the question — how English is the English Premier League? – as
majority of the teams are owned by companies or individuals who are not
English. To set the Indian context, Indian Premier League [IPL] is modelled on
IPL. Though the same cannot be asked
about ownership, one can ask – how Chennai is Chennai Super Kings [CSK] – ie.,
how many Tamilnadu players represent CSK ?
No intro is
necessary on the yellow brigade – CSK, the franchise, founded in 2008 and
captained by mercurial Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Super Kings are the most successful team in the IPL and have won the title twice in succession
(2010 and2011). In 2010, they became the
first Indian team to win the Champions League Twenty20 and repeated the feat in
2014. The leading run-scorer of the team is Suresh Raina, while the leading
wicket-taker is Ravichandran Ashwin. The brand value of the Super Kings in 2012
was estimated at US$75.13 million, making them the most valuable franchise in
the IPL. It all dates back to Sept 2007, when BCCI announced formation of
IPL. In Jan 2008, BCCI unveiled the
owners of eight city-based franchises. The Chennai franchise was sold to the
India Cements for $91 million, making it the fourth most expensive team in the
league behind Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. India Cements acquired the rights to the
franchise for 10 years. N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of
India Cements Ltd., is the de facto owner of the Chennai Super Kings, by means
of his position within the company.
Today’s
The Hindu reports that for the first time in the history of the Indian Premier
League (IPL), a cricket franchise will be owned by the shareholders of a
company. The Board of India Cements Ltd. (ICL) has cleared the decks for
transfer of IPL franchise rights of Chennai Super Kings to its wholly owned
subsidiary, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. While doing so, the Board approved
a reorganisation plan for the newly formed subsidiary.
This is seen as a
deft move ahead of the crucial March 2 AGM of BCCI. Under the revamp plan, the
97,054 shareholders of India Cements will be given shares of Chennai Super
Kings Cricket Ltd. free in proportion to the shares they currently hold in the
company. The promoters together hold a 28.23 per cent stake in the company. “This
is the first step to slowly getting India Cements into a pure-play cement
company,” N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of the company,
said at a select press meeting immediately after the Board meeting here on
Wednesday. “The ownership of Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. will go to
shareholders.” The move will help shareholders of India Cements exercise their
choice — to own only the cement business or the cricket franchise or both.
“This will also be first instance of a sporting franchise in India held by
public shareholders,” Mr. Srinivasan said.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
12th Feb
2015.
Tailpiece : Shares of India Cements registered sharp gains on bourses accompanied by huge volumes after the company announced the decision of Board of Directors transferring the IPL franchise rights to its wholly-owned subsidiary Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday. On NSE the shares were quoting higher by 16.3 per cent at Rs. 110.70 in the morning deals with a volume of 69 lakh shares.
