According to a ‘Business Standard’ report, SRK has started the discussions with companies like Nokia, Sahara and the Anil Ambani Group to sell the team he had bought last year for Rs 300 crore.
According to sources, SRK has been trying to sell a stake in KKR for a long time. But most companies wanted management control as well.
SRK wants to quit the business, owing to the team’s poor performance, according to a Red Chillies official. So far the team has won just one match in the tournament.
Showing his displeasure, Shah Rukh returned to India and sent a strong message to his team that said he would not return to South Africa unless the team performed better in the forthcoming matches and learnt from its mistakes.
“If my team continues to lose like this, I am not going back to South Africa. I will go only when they play well and win,” SRK said.
Rising costs are another reason for his withdrawal. The team has cost him Rs 300 crore for the next 10 years. The total annual cost for the team is about Rs 75 crore.
According to SRK, KKR made minimum profit of Rs 13 crore last year. However, his costs trebled last year owing to interventions from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Cricket Association of Bengal.
He had to pay Rs 90 lakh per match and was supposed to earn Rs 3 crore if all stadium tickets were sold at Eden Gardens. Red Chillies had to pay Rs 20 lakh to the police and municipal tax of Rs 5 lakh. So its expenses per match would have been over Rs 1 crore. But this figure had trebled.
Kolkata Police demanded Rs 2 crore as security fees, against Rs 50 lakh that the organisers of the IPL offered. SRK had to agree to pay Rs 75 lakh as security fees.
The Municipal Corporation (KMC) demanded Rs 25 lakh as amusement tax for holding IPL matches at Eden Gardens.
From dropping ‘Kolkata’ from the team’s name to giving the reins to Brendon McCullum, it remains to be seen if ‘King Khan’ will share the control with other bigwigs.
