Battle of Unicorns

In the IPL, It’s the battle of unicorns… 

Yes, MI v CSK v KKR!

– MI is valued at $1.3 Billion 

– CSK is valued at $1.15 Billion

  – KKR is valued at $ 1.1 Billion

3 existing unicorns, and likely 7 more are on the way. Impressive returns by IPL Teams:

1) Rajasthan Royals: Has given 29x return since inception. An initial investment of Rs 1 lakh would have grown to Rs 29.07 lakhs.

2) Kolkata Knight Riders: 28x return

3) Chennai Super Kings: 24x return

4) Mumbai Indians: 22x return Comparing with Stock Market returns in the same time frame:

1) BSE Sensex: 3x return

2) Reliance Industries and Wipro: 3x return

3) Infosys: 6x return

4) Hindustan Unilever: 13x return

After finding success with startups like Flipkart and Zomato, Tiger Global Management has recently decided to put $40 Million in Rajasthan Royals who are already valued at $650 million.

The owners of the new Gujarat Titans are a private equity firm – CVC Capital Partners who manage $130+ Billion worth of assets.

If the IPL has caught the eyes of major private equity firms, there is big money here for sure!

But, what’s the end goal for these IPL teams? An IPO of course. Many football and basketball teams are already listed on international stock markets.

Their prices vary depending on the team performance, players in the team, social equity etc. IPO not only becomes a way to make money for investor; but for the fans it’s a way to connect deeply with their team.

European football has multiple fan owned teams and they even take part in decision making, So, would you invest into CSK if they had an IPO tomorrow?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

#startups #sports #cricket #privateequity #investment