The CFO added that while there are no plans for a spin-off or IPO of the IPL franchise at present, the company would certainly consider the same at an appropriate time.
Chief Financial Officer of Sun TV S.L. Narayanan said the company would consider a spin-off or listing the company if it will help unlock value for the shareholders. He was speaking at the post-results conference call on Monday evening. The CFO added that while there are no such plans at present, the company would certainly look at it at the appropriate time.
"So, but at this point in time, Sunrisers is a division of Sun TV Network Limited and we disclose the revenues and costs every season. But I’ll be — I just can’t say, that we won’t do any spinoff or listing it separately. If there is a way in which value unlocking can be done for the benefit of shareholders, we will certainly look at it at the appropriate time. But at this point in time, there is nothing," the CFO was responding to a query on the conference call.
As per the CFO, the IPL franchise is definitely saleable. He cited the example of the Delhi franchise (Delhi Daredevils). Jindal South West (JSW) had bought a 50 fifty per cent stake in the Delhi-based IPL franchise for a valuation of Rs 550 crore.
Stake sales in sports franchises is not a new trend. Early this year, RedBird Capital Partners bought a stake in English football club, Liverpool, for $735 million (Rs 5,438.33 crore) and recently, a 15 per cent stake in IPL's Jaipur franchise Rajasthan Royals.
The English club, Manchester United majoritarily-owned by the Glazer family is another prominent listed sports franchise. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
In a separate development, the company had informed on Monday that the IPL franchise contributed revenues worth Rs 175.55 crore in the six month period ending September 30, and Rs 51.63 crore in the second quarter. Total revenues of the company rose 9.59 per cent at Rs 828.67 crore compared to Rs 756.16 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Profits after taxation went up about 13.7 per cent year-over-year to Rs 393.32 crore in the second quarter.