No immediate plan to sell stake: Punjab Kings co-owner Mohit Burman

New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) team Punjab Kings majority owner Mohit Burman, embroiled in an ownership conflict with co-owner Preity Zinta, said he would meet all requirements whenever he decides to partly sell his stake in the team in future. "I will comply with the requirements of applicable laws and requirements under Articles of Association of the company," Burman, who has a majority 48% stake in the team, told ET in an email reply to queries. Burman said, however, that he doesn't have an immediate plan to pare his shareholding in Punjab Kings.

Zinta, who owns a 23% stake in Punjab Kings, through KPH Dream Cricket, filed a petition in the Chandigarh district and sessions court to prevent Burman from selling 11.5% of his stake to an 'unnamed party'.

Zinta said, in her petition, that as per the internal agreements, any shareholder can sell shares to a third party only if the existing co-owners refuse to buy them.

Asked if there is a clause stating that existing co-owners have the first right of refusal in any stake sale by a shareholder, Burman said: "No, there is no such internal clause."

Meanwhile, Burman's lawyers informed the court earlier this week that "potential buyers interested in acquiring 11.5% shares had withdrawn their petition". Hence, the petition stands invalid, the lawyers told the court, said executives with knowledge of the court proceedings. Zinta had filed the petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The executives cited above said the rift between Burman and Zinta started a few months ago.

The other two co-owners of the Punjab Kings team are businessmen Ness Wadia and Karan Paul with 23% and 6% stakes, respectively. Punjab Kings is still to win any edition of the IPL, among the top sports leagues in the world. Yet, valuations of the tournament have skyrocketed in recent years.

Overall, the valuation of IPL as a business surged by 6.5% to $16.4 billion in 2024, according to a report by Houlihan Lokey. The global financial services firm said it evaluated the league's value as a legal business entity as well as a brand.

According to Houlihan Lokey, while IPL's business value is a factor of cash flows generated by the league as a standalone business entity, its brand value reflects its individual monetary worth, and is a subset of the business' overall value. At a standalone level, IPL's value rose by 6.3% to $3.4 billion, it said.

However, Punjab Kings lags many of its IPL rivals in terms of valuation. Among all teams, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) tops the league with a brand value of $231 million, followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at $227 million.