Videocon in talks with IPL franchises to buy stakes

The group chief Venugopal Dhoot, who debunked reports of plans to buy Ness Wadia's 26 per cent stake in Kings XI Punjab, said that he has received several proposals from promoters of IPL franchises who want to sell their stake.

He, however, said that he would buy the stake at the right price."I have been receiving several proposals from promoters of IPL franchises..and I have also been in talks with several promoters to buy their stake...but I will buy the stake at a price which is profitable to me," Chairman of Videocon Group, Venugopal Dhoot told reporters here today while replying to a query on buying stake in IPL franchises.

However, Dhoot refused to divulge the names of the promoters who proposed to sell their stake.Dhoot said that he loved cricket, which prompted him to have business interest in this sport. "It is because of the love for cricket we decided to have presence in IPL. We had bid for a team at USD 320 million but we were at number three position in that bidding process. Then we decided to buy some stake in an IPL team," he said.

Videocon had earlier lost its bid of USD 320 million to Sahara Adventure to buy the Pune franchise. Sahara had paid USD 370 million.In a newspaper report today, Dhoot ruled out the possibility of buying a stake in Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)."I am a businessman and it does not make sense for me to buy a stake in that team and as of today, I am not buying it," he was quoted as saying by Business Standard.