Shilpa buys 12% stake in Rajasthan Royals

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 4:02 am

After Bollywood superstars Preity Zinta and Shahrukh Khan, actress Shilpa Shetty joined the Twenty20 extravaganza in India, as she invested in the Indian Premier League (IPL) champion side ‘Rajasthan Royals’, which is led by Australian spin legend Shane Warne and has international stars like South African skipper Graeme Smith and Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson in its fold.

Shetty thus becomes the third Bollywood star after Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta to buy a stake in IPL teams. While Shah Rukh owns Kolkata Knight Riders, Preity has a stake in Kings XI Punjab, the semi-finalists last year.

Shilpa, along with London-based partner Raj Kundra, had earlier expressed their interest to be a part of the Emerging Media team, and have now finally inked the deal. Shilpa will be buying 12% stake in the the team which amounts to USD 11.6 million.

“They have bought an approximately 12 per cent stake in the team,” Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale said.

Addressing the media today, Shilpa Shetty said, “It is my honour and pleasure to be associated with Rajasthan Royals and this is a strategic investment business. I hope the team has the same run like they had last year. I completely relate to the team because they are exactly the way my life has been. They were the underdogs and they went on to win the championship.”

Talking about what her role would be she added, “I would be more involved in activities off the field like merchandising, acting in music videos etc.”

Her business partner Raj Kundra said, “Investing in the Rajasthan Royals is an action which will help us in the long run. I have always stuck to the formula to invest in businesses which have proven to be a success. I could not think of a better team other than the Royals.”

Shetty has invested her money in the Rajasthan Royals team which is co-owned by Manoj Badale who is also its chairman, as the CEO of S2 Global Productions Private Limited.

Badale, announcing the selling of 12 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals was valued at USD 140 million, said that last year the focus was to make it a well-known brand in India and this year the strategy was to globalise it.

“We wanted to find a strategic partner to develop the commercial properties. We want to make Rajasthan Royals into more than a cricket franchise, want to make it into a global brand. It was the second-most popular team in all of India last year, and obviously the number one in Rajasthan”, he said.

Badale also announced that the focus of the Royals team would always remain cricket-specific and that this year the team will include a few young players who already have had a few interactive sessions with Australian spin legend and the team’s captain-cum-coach Shane Warne.

“Cricket was and is always our focus. We are always for developing new players and this year we plan to introduce nine young players. Shane Warne has already made a couple of visits to India and interacted with them,” he said.

Terming the Pakistan government’s decision to bar the country’s players from taking part in this year’s IPL as disappointing, in the wake of the tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, Badale said the team did not target a specific player during the IPL player auctions in Goa on February 6.

“We would not be having last year’s bowler of the IPL Sohail Tanvir and a few other Pakistan players. We have to become smart and fill up their spots. We are targeting all 43 players. We are not interested in specific players. The important thing is to have the right balance in the team”, he said.

About the investments from Shetty and Kundra, Badale said, “We are funded well now for the next few years with the investments of Shilpa and Raj”.

He also claimed the global economic meltdown has not affected the team’s sponsorships. ”Having repared well in cricket the first year we have not seen any slowdown in interest from sponsors,” Badale said.

Badale also said that over the next 12 months the franchise would play matches in England, during their summer, and Australia, during their season.

During the first season of the IPL, Shilpa Shetty was seen cheering for Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers. However, the actor will now be seen backing the champion side in the second season.

The Rajasthan Royals won the champion in the first season of the IPL, but lacked the off-field flair as compared to the other sides like SRK’s Knight Riders or Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers.

But now, Shilpa’s association to the team will certainly add some glam quotient to the champions, which will hold them in good stead in season two.

(With inputs from Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Shilpa buys 12% stake in Rajasthan Royals

From World:

Todays news from Sports News

Advertisement

Email Subscription

Advertisement