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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 29

K Sera Sera Productions Ltd, which produced movies such as Sarkar and Ab Tak Chhappan, is planning to buy one of the two new teams to be added to the Indian Premier League tournament in the fourth season that will start in 2011.

Confirming the development, Mr Sanjay Lai, the Executive Director, K Sera Sera Productions, told Business Line, “IPL is a lucrative business proposition and the company will be coming out with a GDR issue to raise funds for the same.”

The company has appointed Mr Lai to handle the bidding process and investments related to the cricket tournament.

“All these proposals regarding the investments in buying a team of the IPL will be discussed at a board meeting on Monday,” he added. The fourth season of IPL in 2011 will see the addition of two new teams to the existing eight. The request for proposal and tender for the two new teams will be floated by December and the auction will take place in January 2010.

Currently, the eight IPL franchises represent the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Jaipur.

The IPL, so far, has not yet decided which cities will be added, though names such as Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kochi and Vishakhaptanam are doing the rounds. The city from which the highest bid comes will host the new IPL team.

IPL expects the new teams in the fourth edition to cost between $200 million and $300 million. So far, the Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians has been the most expensive acquisition at $112 million.

Earlier this year, Mr Raj Kundra, an NRI entrepreneur, and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, acquired an 11.7 per cent stake in the Jaipur franchise of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals, for $16.39 million valuing the franchise at $140 million.

Apart from K Sera Sera, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt are also reportedly interested in owning IPL teams. K Sera Sera’s scrip closed with a loss of 3.87 per cent at Rs 14.90 on Friday.

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