RPSG group, CVC Capital beat Glazers, Adani Group to win bids for Ahmedabad, Lucknow IPL teams

After an intense bidding war, Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Group and international investment firm CVC Capital placed the winning bids to clinch the ownership rights of the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) IPL teams set to be introduced in the league from the 2022 season. IPL, which is one of the best T20 cricket leagues in the world is all set to become a 10-team affair from next year.

The bidding war for the two new IPL teams took place in Dubai on Monday (October 25). The RPSG Group will own the Lucknow franchise in IPL after a staggering bid of INR 70.9 billion (Rs 7090 crore) while CVC Capital placed a winning bid of INR 56.25 billion (Rs 5625 crore) to bag the ownership rights of the Ahmedabad team.

There were a total of ten bidders in the fray to become the new owners of the two new IPL teams. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Dharamsala, Cuttack, Guwahati and Indore were the six cities in the pool to become the base of the new IPL side, which will be introduced in the league from the next year. 

A total of 22 potential bidders had picked up the tender document which were released by the BCCI earlier this month. The Indian cricket board had set the base price of each IPL team at INR 20 billion (Rs 2000 crore). However, with a number of competitors in the fray, the price was expected to go over INR 70 billion (Rs 7,000 crore).

On Monday, all the bidders were asked to submit two envelopes by the BCCI with one containing their personal credentials while the other with their financial credentials. A legal and audit was done by the BCCI officials following which the envelopes containing the bids were opened.

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RPSG Group’s staggering bid of INR 70.09 billion left many surprised as they outshone every other bidder by a huge margin. There were some prominent names in the fray like the Adani Group, The Glazers, who own Manchester United football club among others.

However, RPSG Group and CVC Capital emerged as the winners in the bidding war. RPSG Group had previously owned the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant franchise in the IPL and will be making their comeback to the cash-rich league once again.

“A lot of planning and calculation has gone into our bidding. I give credit to personal staff for winning the bid,” Sanjiv Goenka of the RPSG Group was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.