September 14, 2015
MUMBAI – Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur has taken his fight against N Srinivasan to a new level by questioning the audacity of the former president's valuation of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings.
September 14, 2015
MUMBAI – Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur has taken his fight against N Srinivasan to a new level by questioning the audacity of the former president's valuation of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings.
Srinivasan transferred the franchise to a trust for just Rs 7.83 crore, when according to a submission filed to the Supreme Court by Thakur, the true valuation should be around Rs 1140 crore.
A Mumbai Mirror report says that Thakur's valuation comes is based on the fact that CSK's brand value according to American Appraisal is Rs 455 crore.
So if brand value is 40 percent of entity, then it means the whole franchise is worth around Rs 1140 crore. Thakur quotes this from an audit in February 2014.
The valuation issues started way back in April, when Srinivasan claimed the value of CSK was Rs 5 lakhs.
This was done at an IPL Governing Council meeting in February, when the BCCI was in limbo while waiting for the Supreme Court to issue an order on Srinivasan's eligibility to stand for reelection as BCCI president.
Eventually, when the transfer happened, the Bombay Stock Exchange was informed that the deal was completed at a little less than Rs 8 crore.
The current BCCI regime is particularly miffed about this huge gap in valuation because the board is entitled to receive 5 percent of a deal's valuation in case of transfer of franchise.
"What is shocking is that the transfer of the franchise (to CSK Cricket Limited) is stated to have been carried out for Rs 7.83 cr. …The BCCI is deprived of the benefit of the true value of the 5 per cent share which would be in the region of Rs 57 cr," Thakur wrote in his 40-page submission.
By virtue of the restructuring, Srinivasan wanted to avoid conflict of interest with the BCCI.
He also tried to attend their Working Committee meeting on 28 August — which was eventually adjourned due to confusion over whether he can be part of it or not.
Thakur said Srinivasan 'barged in and insisted upon attending the meeting' and has sought clarification on whether the India Cements managing director is still qualified to attend BCCI meets.
"An examination of the restructuring said to have been under taken by Srinivasan would show that, step by step, transactions have been undertaken while Srinivasan continues to control the CSK franchise.
It is obvious that, on the basis of his claim, BCCI is going to face serious problems in holding meetings. Hence the need for this Hon'ble court to clarify…" Thakur wrote.
The report adds that Srinivasan's camp will be able to prove that the transfer of shareholding is realistic.
Despite all this, Srinivasan continues to head the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Courtesy: Firstpost
