Deccan Chargers put up for sale

Future uncertain

The Hyderabad-based Indian Premier League team – Deccan Chargers – has officially been put on sale with its owners Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL) issuing a tender notice, inviting bids from prospective buyers on Thursday.

The franchise, which has been in a financial mess for some time now, had approached the Board of Control for Cricket in India to help it find a buyer and the Board’s working committee (WC) on Monday decided to allow DCHL to go ahead and issue the tender notice.

It is learnt that the WC meeting discussed three scenarios before deciding to bail out the struggling team. While helping the beleaguered franchise in its bid to find a buyer was on top of its priority list, the all-powerful WC also mulled going in with eight teams in the sixth season. Such a move, however, would have cost the Board Rs 100 crore. The other option was to disband the team and float a new team, and not necessarily from Hyderabad. But eventually, the panel decided against it.     

The invitation to tender and the bid document can be acquired from the BCCI office in Mumbai from September 7 upon a payment of Rs 5 lakh by demand draft or pay order favouring DCHL.

According to the IPL constitution, 5 per cent of the bidding amount will be acquired by the BCCI. The last day for submitting the bid will be 12 noon on September 13 and the winning bid will be announced on the same day.

Earlier in June, DCHL, which reportedly needs an immediate infusion of Rs 500 crore to overcome its current crisis, had appointed investment banking institution, Religare, to find a potential buyer but they were unable to find one who would readily buy the team with its financial liabilities.

According to the tender notice, “under this invitation to tender issued by DCHL, the winning bidder will acquire from the DCHL on an “as is where is” basis the right to own and operate the IPL team currently known as Deccan Chargers”.

The term “as is where is” means that the new buyer will have to use the name Deccan Chargers and will have to clear the liabilities of the current owner. The new potential buyer may have to pay the salary of the Deccan Chargers’ players for the fifth edition of the IPL.

Deccan Chargers was bought for US$107 million in the first IPL team auction in 2008. At that time, it was the third-most expensive franchise, behind Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.