Anurag Thakur says CSK team worth 1140 Cr

Anurag Thakur says CSK team worth 1140 Cr: 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. According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, Thakur has filed a 40 page submission with a writ petition in the Supreme Court saying the worth of the CSK is 1140 crores but former BCCI president Srinivasan transferred the franchise to a trust at a mere Rs 8 crore. The petition also puts to rest talks a so-called rapprochement between Thakur and Srinivasan, the current and former strongmen of Indian cricket and proves that the fight is set to play out in public.

Thakur’s valuation is based on the fact that CSK’s brand value according to American Appraisal is Rs 455 crore. So if brand value is 40 per cent of entity, then it means the whole franchise is worth around Rs 1140 crore. Thakur quotes this from an audit conducted in February last year.

“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 said in his submission.

However members who are Srinivasan loyalists claimed the board secretary has exceeded his brief in his affidavit. The Srinivasan camp is also confident that it can prove that the transfer of shareholding is genuine and the former BCCI president has no control over it.

The current  BCCI secretary also contends that Srinivasan continues to stay conflicted and hence should be prevented from attending the meetings of the BCCI – something the Chennai strongman attempted on August 28 leading to the cancellation of the working committee meet.

Explaining the CSK valuation and Srinivasan’s conflict of interest, Thakur said the former board president still controls the trust to which CSK shares were transferred. “Even if the majority shares of the CSKCL are ultimately passed on to the non-promoter shareholders of India Cements Ltd, deep pervasive control of CSKCL would remain vested in India Cement Ltd of which N Srinivasan and his family members are not only having more than 29 per cent shareholding but also in the management through Board of Directors,” the submission said.

Amidst all this a prominent faction of the BCCI feels that Thakur has raised questions which were not on BCCI’s agenda and that the petition was only to seek the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s opinion on whether Srinivasan can attend the board meetings.