IPL: Sanjiv Goenka Returns With Rs 7,000 Cr Lucknow Team. A Look at New Owner, Future Plans
The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group made a comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) foray after four years. Lately, there had been massive speculations around who would win bids of owning the two new IPL teams that will come into the scene from the 2022 games. That speculation was put to an end on October 26 evening when the BCCI announced named of the top two bidders, with the RPSG group making it to the list.
The Sanjiv Goenka-owned conglomerate bagged the Lucknow franchise of the IPL for a whopping Rs 7,090 crore, setting a record in the process. The other team, which will be based in Ahmedabad, was bagged by the Irelia Company Pte Ltd – CVC Capital Partners. The group pitched an amount of Rs 5,625 crore to win the bid to buy this upcoming team.
The auction for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, set to be held next year, will take place in December.
The RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group is not new to India’s most celebrated cricket league, the IPL. In 2015, when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were serving a two-year suspension from the league following their alleged involvement in match fixing scandal, the conglomerate had floated a separate team — the Rising Pune Supergiant. However, that, for the company, was a brief stint in the IPL as the team only played for two seasons.
Who are the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group?
The RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group is a Kolkata based multimillionaire business conglomerate. Established by Sanjiv Goenka, the younger son of Rama Prasad Goenka, on 13 July 2011, the group deals in various sectors. This includes power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, and infrastructure among others. Some popular brands of the franchise include power major CESC Limited, music label SaReGaMa India Limited, and multi-format retailer company Spencer’s Retail.
RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group in Sports
RPSG owner, Sanjiv Goenka, is known for his passion for sports. The group is one of the owners of ATK- Mohun Bagan, which was previously known as ATK -Kolkata. This football team is one of the top tier groups in the Indian Super League. The group had earlier ventured into other sports as well, including table tennis. However, after a successful and brief stint in the Indian Premier League, Goenka had expressed his interest to make a comeback in cricket.
Why RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group’s comeback to IPL is significant
As already mentioned earlier, the group had already floated an IPL team four years back, but that did not last for long. While dissolving Rising Pune Supergiant, the Kolkata based business tycoon had revealed that he would again float a team “whenever there would be an opportunity”, according to media reports. On Monday, shortly after the announcement was made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the winners, Goenka expressed his happiness in interviews to a few news organisations. “It is an initial step and now, we need to build a good team and perform,” he told The Hindu Sportstar on the day. In another interview, he revealed that the group preferred Lucknow over the other teams.
So, with this move, the RPSG franchise will finally enter their second innings in the Indian Premier League, years after a heartbreaking loss to Mumbai Indians in the 2017 final games.
On Future Plans and Return Proposition
On future plans, Goenka told Moneycontrol, “Rs 7,000 crore is the enterprise value to be paid over in 10 years, the first-year payout is Rs 700 crore. In the same period, I expect to get over Rs 3,500 crore from the Cricket Board.”
Talking about the return propositions from the investments, Goenka futher mentioned, “In five years I expect it to be worth Rs 10,000 crore. The Rs 7,000 crore valuation is to go up to Rs 10,000 crore. So, if I’m investing Rs 2,500 crore and in five years it becomes worth Rs 10,000 crore, that’s a pretty good investment.”
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