The Hindu Business Line : Shilpa Shetty, partner pick stake in Rajasthan Royals

The new Royals: Ms Shilpa Shetty, film star and CEO of S2 Global Productions, and Mr Raj Kundra, CEO, Essential General Trading, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. —

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Feb. 3 Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and UK-based entrepreneur Raj Kundra together picked up a 12 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals, the winner of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) last year.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Mr Manoj Badale, Chairman of Emerging Media, the owner of the Rajasthan Royals, said the Jaipur-based franchisee is currently valued at $140 million.

Emerging Media had acquired the franchisee for $67 million last year.

Proceeds from the stake sale will be used for developing infrastructure for players and finance international expansion, Mr Badale told reporters on Tuesday, “We wanted to find a strategic partner to develop the commercial properties. We want to make Rajasthan Royals into more than a cricket franchise and globalise the sports brand.” Ms Shetty, also the CEO of S2 Global Production Pvt Ltd, said “We have taken a strategic approach by investing in Rajastan Royals. I am a very passionate about cricket and who better to invest than the current reigning IPL champions.”

Emerging Media had been trying to sell a portion of its stake in the last three months. Earlier on, Rajasthan Royals had planned an initial public offering but shelved it due to weak market sentiment, said Mr Badale.

“We are funded well now for the next few years with the investments of Shilpa and Raj,” he said.

The franchisee had lined up a slew of marketing initiatives such as selling jerseys, T-shirts, sports goods and releasing DVD’s capturing moments of Rajatsthan Royals’ last year.

“We are going to be aggressive this year with our merchandising business. We are in talks with many Indian and international brands to launch formal wear,” said Mr Raghu Iyer, Chief Marketing Officer, Rajasthan Royals.

Related Stories:
Royal splendour
Regional loyalty boosts IPL ratings
‘IPL franchisees may have better margins than Arsenal, Man U’

More Stories on : Sports | Brands | People

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page