Hyderabad, Sialkot become new PSL teams as auction concludes

ISLAMABAD: Hyderabad and Sialkot have become the two new Pakistan Super League (PSL) teams following the completion of the expansion auction here at the Jinnah Convention Centre on Thursday.

The OZ Developers, owned by Hamza Majeed, secured the ownership of the eighth PSL team with a bid of Rs1.85 billion and named it after Sialkot in the second round of the highly anticipated auction.

The base price for the eighth PSL team was set at Rs1.70billion after FKS Group acquired the ownership of the first franchise up for sale for Rs1.75billion.

The company was briefly engaged in a bidding war with i2c, until they carried forward a bid of Rs1.75billion, which helped them take the helm of the new franchise.

Auction Rules

• All bids shall be quoted in Pakistani Rupees (PKR).
• The minimum incremental bid from the base price announced by PCB shall be PKR 10,000,000 (rupees ten million only).
• No bid increase of less than the minimum incremental bid shall be accepted.
• Bidders may choose to make a bid in excess of the minimum incremental bid. No limit.
• Each bidder shall have the right to exercise one (1) strategic timeout of up to five (5) minutes, only once during each round of the auction.
• During this strategic timeout, bidders may consult with their representatives before deciding their future course of action in the auction, but shall not be permitted to communicate with other bidders.
• A bidding round shall be declared closed when the highest incremental bid in excess of the base price is not surpassed by any other bidder despite a final call by the auctioneer.
• Upon closure of the bidding round, the highest valid bid in excess of the base price shall be provisionally declared the winning bid.

The marquee league, kick-started with five teams in 2016 and later expanded to six sides in 2018, is set for further expansion with the addition of two new franchises.

Ahead of the historic auction, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shortlisted six cities – Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit and Sialkot – for the successful bidders to select their teams' names.

Following the landmark 10th edition of the marquee league, the PCB carried out a valuation process for the existing six franchises. It offered contract renewals to their respective owners, out of which five signed the extension, with the exception of Multan Sultans, which has now been taken under control by the cricket board.

To explore international investors, the PSL hosted two roadshows at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London and in New York, and received unprecedented interest, receiving bids from 12 parties from five different continents.

In a brief statement, the cricket board shared that investors from the United States of America (USA), Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan expressed their interest in acquiring the franchises up for sale.

Last month, the cricket board's Bid Committee "thoroughly" evaluated the proposals made by 12 parties from five different continents, and after a three-day-long scrutiny, shortlisted 10 bidders, who were found to have met the technical criteria and qualified for the second stage.

However, at the 11th hour, Tareen Group announced to pull out of the auction, bringing the number of qualified bidders to nine.

The shortlisted bidders include OZ Developers, Aim Next inc, Deharki Sugar Mills, FKS, Inverex, i2c, Jazz, Prism Developers, VGO Tel and Walee Technologies.