India Cements Limited (ICL) which won the bid of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisee for Chennai, is planning to list ?Chennai Super Kings? (name of the franchisee) in the next two years. The company believes that its franchisee will become a major league on the lines of European and and US leagues and expects it to grow substantially in the years to come.
?We want to have off ?Chennai Super Kings? as a separate company. We have options to get listed the same in the next two to three years to make it a big league in India and grow on its own in a big way,? said N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director, India Cements Limited.
?Our aim is to make the league as one of the leading league in India on the lines of Europe and the US such as United Manchester over a period of time. We are excited over the response from the public for our franchisee and the company received over 26,000 suggestions to name the franchisee,? he said.
?Ultimately our franchisee will be made to grow substantially in terms of volume and value and it will bring a strong brand equity to the parent company while help it to grow manifold in the years to come,? Srinivasan said. It provides an excellent platform to build corporate and brand image at virtually no cost especially at a time when the company is planning to be a pan India player.?It is a revenue-positive proposal?, he added.
To a question, he said: ?It is a logical step for ICL to acquire ownership of a franchisee as the company involved in sponsoring various sports event, primarily Cricket, for over four decades. It is an excellent opportunity for us to associate with the premier league (IPL) and bring in quality cricket to the Indian viewers.?
According to him, ?We are not looking at anything initially from the franchisee. We believe it will start making money in the years to come. The revenue will start flow from different quarters including from gate collections, bill boards, stadia advertisements, team sponsorship,title sponsorships among other things.
?With the leading international players such as Mathew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Muthiah Muralidharan and Indian players like Dhoni, Badrinath in the side, we believe ?Chennai Super Kings? will be a major league in IPL,? he said.