Pune and Kochi unveiled as new IPL franchises
IPL commissioner Lalti Modi has announced Pune and Kochi as the locations of the two new franchises which will join the Indian Premier League in 2011.
IPL commissioner Lalti Modi has announced Pune and Kochi as the locations of the two new franchises which will join the Indian Premier League in 2011.
The Pune franchise was captured by the Sahara Adventure Sports Group for $370 million while Kochi was secured by the Rendezvous Sports World Limited for a total of $333.3 million.
The announcement was made more then two weeks after the original tender was cancelled by the BCCI because of harsh financial clauses. The new tender which was opened today and received 5 bids.
The prices paid by the two winning bidders to secure IPL franchises are more then 3 times the amount Reliance Industries Limited paid to secure the Mumbai franchise at the first auction in 2008.
Pune and Kochi will join the Indian Premier League in 2011 when the league is expanded to 10 teams featuring 94 games, an increase of 34 from the existing 60 game format.
"There were five qualified bids and the bidding was extremely tough," Modi said.
Sahara had highest bids for three cities – Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur -- but eventually choose Pune as their franchise.
"They made the highest bid for all three cities and were asked to choose one of those cities. So Pune will be the home ground of their team," said Modi.
The first tender was cancelled by the BCCI two weeks ago when they only received two bids after concerns were raised concerns over the terms of the tender.
Bids are expected to be made by Videocon, Jaypee Associates, Sahara, Adani Group and a partnership from Pune. The base price of $225 million is still in place but a number of the terms from the original tender have been removed.
These included the IPL wanting a $100 million performance guarantee paid 24 hours before the auction took place and a further 10% bank guarantee within 48 hours of winning a franchise.
"Essentially, we have gone back to 2008 when bidding for the existing franchises was held. But, since the values have gone up, the performance guarantee has also gone up from $5 million to $10 million," said Modi when he announced the new tender.
