JSW-GMR joint venture buys 2 cricket franchises for over ₹400 cr

Mumbai: JSW GMR Cricket, an equal joint venture between the sports arms of GMR and JSW groups, has acquired SA20 franchise Pretoria Capitals and International League T20 (ILT20) franchise Dubai Capitals from JSW and GMR, respectively, people aware of the development told ET.

JSW GMR Cricket, which owns the Delhi franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL), has agreed to pay over ₹400 crore for buying controlling stakes in the two franchises, one of the sources said.

SA20 and ILT20 are IPL-style franchise-based twenty20 leagues launched by the South African and United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricket boards, respectively.

“The two transactions will take some time to get consummated since these are overseas foreign investments,” an industry executive said on condition of anonymity.

Both JSW and GMR declined to comment. The transactions will help JSW and GMR consolidate their cricket franchise business under the joint venture.

GMR group acquired the Dubai franchise of ILT20 in February 2022, while JSW group bought the SA20’s Pretoria team in July 2022. GMR Singapore and JSW Sports have the franchise rights for the Dubai Capitals and JSW Pretoria, respectively. Both companies will transfer the franchises to JSW GMR Cricket.IPL franchises Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Chennai Super Kings have also bought franchises in foreign T20 leagues including SA20, ILT20, and Major League Cricket in the US.For the fiscal year ended March 2023, JSW GMR Cricket posted a net loss of ₹58 crore due to investments in the WPL Delhi team against a net profit of ₹11 crore in FY22.

The company’s operating income declined by 2.13% to ₹367 crore in FY23 from ₹375 crore in FY22.

Outside the JV, both JSW and GMR have made significant investments in the sports business.