The History Of CVC Capital Partners, New Owners Of Ahmedabad IPL Team
Sports
With RPSG Group acquiring the Lucknow IPL team for ₹7,090 crore, and CVC Capital acquiring the Ahmedabad team for ₹5,625 crore, questions were raised about the latter’s role in acquiring a team. CVC’s other businesses have links with betting companies, raising questions about a betting team owning a franchise. In that light, let us have a look at the past investments made by CVC and the issues it might have faced there.
Crux of the Matter
About Them
CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based private equity firm which was established in 1981. It is a dominant player in international sports, having invested billions of dollars in multiple sporting businesses. As per News18, CVC capitals are known for gaining endless profit in other sporting ventures.
Controversy Around Owning An IPL Team
CVC outbid Adani Group to become the owners of the Ahmedabad IPL Franchise. The winning bid amount was ₹5,625 crore.
However, Lalit Modi, former IPL Commissioner, raised questions regarding this decision by BCCI. Modi questioned the entry of CVC in IPL due to the firm’s investment in companies linked with betting activities.
As per some reports, BCCI’s legal team has started investigations on the same.
What Was The La Liga Deal?
It’s a $3.2 billion deal between La Liga and CVC Capital. Under the plan, a new company will be established, with 10% of CVC stake. The company will deal with Leagues’ commercial elements like sponsorship deals, La Liga Tech and the upcoming US venture.
According to the terms , CVC could claim 10.95% of the clubs’ audiovisual rights for the next 50 years. The deal was approved by 38 out of 42 Spanish league clubs. CVC faced a backlash from Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao, 3 of the 4 clubs who voted against it, have challenged the deal and opted out.
Sports CVC Invested In
MotoGP
It acquired Dorna Sports for ~$80 million in 1998 and later sold it to Bridgepoint capital in 2006 for ~$473.4 million.Formula 1
It bought it for ~$2 billion in 2006, and later sold it to Liberty Media in 2016 for $4.4 billion.
Current Investments Of CVC
Premiership Rugby (2018)
CVC acquired 27% holding stake worth $294 million.Pro 14 Rugby (2020)
CVC acquired 8% stake after investing $149 million.Six Nations Rugby (2021)
CVC invested $510 million in developmental capital.Volleyball World (2021)
CVC invested $300 million and formed a company with the International Volleyball Federation.
Rumoured Investments
One Tennis
CVC is in talks to invest $600 million in a $4 billion global tennis group that would merge the men’s and women’s international tennis tours.San Antonio Spurs (2021)
In Feb 2021, CVC was in talks to acquire a 15% stake in the NBA team at a $1.3 billion valuation. However, Sixth Street ended up buying a 30% stake.
Investments Paused Or Cancelled
Serie A (2021)
CVC was to pay $2 billion for a 10% stake in the Italian league’s media rights but the deal has been put on hold.Bundesliga (2021)
Talks ended with no deal.
Curiopedia
In 2018, Star Sports won the broadcasting rights for IPL for a tenure of 5 years for an eye watering sum of ₹16,347.5 crore. That is ₹3269.5 crore per year.