Group M to pick up 20% in Hyderabad IPL team

Lalitha Srinivasan
Posted: Thursday, Feb 28, 2008 at 2321 hrs IST
Updated: Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008 at 2341 hrs IST

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Mumbai, Feb 27: In a significant move, media major Group M India, part of the WPP Group Plc, is learnt to have taken a 20% stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s franchise –the Hyderabad team (owned by Deccan Chronicle), informed industry sources. “As per the deal, Deccan Chronicle will retain its 80% stake in the Hyderabad team.” added sources. The buzz around the Indian Premier League’s eight franchisees is gaining momentum after IPL’s grand auction on Feb 20 this year.

“Advertisers want to be associated with IPL’s franchisees in some way or the other. But it’s for the first time that a media agency is taking a stake in one of the IPL’s franchisees,” said an analyst based in Mumbai. When contacted by FE, company officials refused to comment on Group M’s new initiatives. According to industry analysts, Team Hyderabad is considered one the strongest franchises in the Indian Premier League as they have bought the right mix of a T20 team.

“During the IPL auction, the team has bought strong players such as Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi. The team also has 4 members who played at the ICC Twenty 20 World Championship,” point out analysts. Deccan Chronicle won the bid for the Hyderabad team for $107.01 million. The DLF IPL tournament will be played over 44 days between eight franchises in eight cities and will feature 59 matches.

Incidentally, Group M has bagged the media duties of the Indian Premier League just a few days ago, while Ogilvy & Mather won the creative duties of IPL. Group M, a leading full service media investment management operation across the globe, was created by WPP Group to oversee its assets in this sector. These assets include MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom and Maxus.

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