Punjab Kings (PBKS) has been going through a tough time off the field before the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which is expected to take place towards the end of the ongoing year. The promoter group of the side seems to be having a different discussion among themselves.
Even though the reports have suggested that all these developments could be speculative, it has been informed that one of the four owners of the Punjab Kings franchise, the Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, has taken the matter to the court in an aim to restrain an order against another promoter of the side.
The reports from Chandigarh indicate that Zinta owns a 23 percent shareholding in the Punjab Kings team through KPG Dream Cricket Private Limited. But, she has filed an appeal in the State High Court against co-owner Mohit Burman for selling a portion of his shares to another party.
Punjab Kings faces inconvenience among promoter group
In the Punjab Kings team, Burman holds the largest share, with 48% in KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited. The third owner of the side is Ness Wadia, who possesses a 23% shareholding, while the fourth owner, Karan Paul, carries the rest of the share, which is around 6%.
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The court appeal of Preity Zinta has made concerns about Mohit’s reported plans to sell a portion of his shares, which he has denied. He is associated with the Dabur company and has rejected all the claims in a conversation with Cricbuzz.
“I don’t have any plans to sell my shares,” Mohit said, despite reports suggesting that he wanted to sell 11.5 percent of his stake to an unnamed party.
“Preity Zinta said Burman holds approximately 48 percent of the shareholding and is also on the board of directors. She has filed the petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act-1996 seeking interim measures and direction given the disputes and differences between her and respondent Mohit Burman.” The report in Tribue has expressed.
The report, however, doesn’t clear the exact reasons behind this appeal from Zinta, but it has been understood that all the arrangements among the owners before selling must to offered to the existing group of promoters, The stake can be only sold to an outside party only once all the current promoters give green light to the decision.
Most importantly, the offer to sell the stake can’t be open-ended, and it has always needed to be time-bound, as the seller can only open for a certain time for the partners.
Since the inclusion of the new teams in the IPL 2022, the valuation of the IPL teams has gone up. The moderately successful teams can command a value of up to 650-700 million dollars, which is expected to be around INR 5300 crore and INR 5800 crore. Now, 11.5 percent of the valuation in the Punjab Kings will be around INR 540 to 600 crores.
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Mohit Burman has reportedly denied all the claims of selling his shares, but the future of the matter remains uncertain. Cricbuzz has also reported reaching Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta, for a comment but received no response from her side. The case now has been posted for a hearing in August.
Punjab Kings, despite being present in the history of the tournament, since the very first season, hasn’t put up any bright performance, with only one final and semifinal in the event. They are also looking for an Indian coach in place of Trevor Baylis before IPL 2025.
