Ahmedabad IPL team owner: The CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm has major stakes in popular Sports across the globe
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The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is in all probability set to commence from April 2, 2022 at Chennai. Alike the 2011 season of the cash-rich league, with two new teams set to make their debut, IPL 2022 is going to be a 10-team affair.
The first new entrant- The RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) Group were the highest bidders with a whooping sum of INR 7,090 Crores, while the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners (Irelia Company Pte Ltd) were the second-highest bidders with INR 5,625 Crores. While the RPSG group acquired the Lucknow-based franchise, The CVC Capitals would own the Ahmedabad franchise.
Many congrats to both the successful bidders @rpsggroup & @CVC_Capital. A big thank you to all the participants for participating in one of the most premium sport leagues in the world.@IPL is beyond doubt the most successful MakeinIndia brand that @bcci and India can be proud of
— Thakur Arun Singh (@ThakurArunS) October 25, 2021
With the acquisition of the Lucknow franchise, RPSG Group has made an IPL comeback. It owned the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergaints in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. On the other hand, it is the debut of CVC Capital Partners in the marquee Crickt league.
Ahmedabad IPL team owner: Who owns the CVC Capital Partners?
The CVC Capital Partners is a private equity firm, with many stakeholders from around the globe. All these stakeholders collectively own this equity firm, and thus the organization does not have a single individual owner.
The CVC Capital Partners has its headquarters in Luxembourg, in Western Europe. The firm has its stakes in major and popular Sports from around the world which includes the International rugby union, Formula 1 and top football properties such as Spain’s La Liga.
With assets worth over $100 billion, the PE firm, established in 1981, has in recent years invested billions of dollars in multiple sporting businesses and changed the international sport.
In August 2018, La Liga sold 10 percent of the game’s rights to CVC in a €2.7-billion deal, triggering a huge controversy.
Earlier, in 1998, CVC Capital bought Moto GP brand Dorna for €71.5 million ($83 million). Eight years later they sold it in 2006 at 700 per cent profit for €525 million ($609 million). They also invested in Formula 1, selling their stake to Liberty Media in 2017.
In 2020, the British equity firm acquired a 27 per cent holding in Premiership Rugby, the first division of English clubs. Later in 2021, the company added 14 per cent of the rights for the Six Nations and 28 per cent of the Pro14 tournament, taking their investment total in the sport to around €800 million ($928 million).
As far as the IPL is concerned, the firm has been marred with a bit of a controversy regarding its alleged involvement in investments in betting firms abroad. It is worth mentioning that betting in India is illegal as per law.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will appoint a neutral committee to look into CVC Capital Partners’ links with betting companies abroad.
