IPL 2020 sponsors Dream11 set to secure ₹1500 crore investment despite lockdown: Report

Private equity firm Kedaara Capital is competing for a spot in the $200 million (about ₹1,500 crore) fundraising exercise of fantasy sports platform Dream11, according to The Economic Times. It was speculated that Dream11 would raise $150-200 million in funding at a $2-2.2 billion valuation before the coronavirus lockdown. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold.

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Kedaara Capital is competing for a spot in the $200 million fundraising exercise of Dream11

Kedaara is competing alongside domestic, as well as, global funds such as TPG, Advent International, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Chrys Capital, which have already evaluated the investment opportunity delayed by lockdown at up to $2.25 billion. SteadView Capital, which is a Hong Kong and London-based investment firm, had picked up a stake in Dream11 for $60 million in 2014. Now, the company is planning to accommodate 3-4 investors in this round.

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Dream11 was founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Seth and it is currently the official fantasy gaming partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Dream11 also counts Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings as a major investor, after it raised $100 million from the WeChat parent company in 2018. Dream11 has had five funding rounds since its inception.

Dream11's upcoming planned funding round will be the biggest capital raise till date for the company. As per an Economic Times report, this will primarily be a secondary sale of shares providing a partial exit to Vani Kola-led Kalaari Capital, Renuka Ramnath-founded Multiples Alternate Asset Management and San Francisco-based Think Investments. Dream11 is aiming at finalising new investors by the end of this month after the confirmatory due diligence.

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ICC meeting: The apex cricketing board postpones T20 World Cup to 2021

On Friday, July 17, the Sourav Ganguly-led board conducted a meeting but chose against announcing the IPL schedule. One of the reasons behind not announcing IPL schedule was because of the ICC, who had not taken a call on the T20 World Cup. However, the ICC board had a virtual meeting on Monday and formally announced about the postponement of the T20 World Cup to 2021. The T20 World Cup was supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country’s cricket board had, in May itself had expressed its inability to host the marquee event amid a second surge of COVID-19 cases.

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IMAGE COURTESY: IPLT20.COM