Seven companies participated in the franchise bidding process of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as technical bids of interested parties were opened at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters earlier yesterday in Lahore.
The rights of five franchises — Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta — are on offer for a 10-year period. Though a number of parties bought the bidding documents, but only seven presented formal proposals, which include companies from the Middle East as well.
It has been learnt that the companies officially in the race comprise ARY Media Group, Omar Associates, Arif Habib Group, Haier, Mobilink as well as two foreign companies: UAE’s Venture Capital and Qatar’s Premier Oil Company QALCO.
“We’re happy that seven credible companies with clean and strong backgrounds have participated in the bidding war of PSL franchises,” a PSL official said.
All seven technical bids have been accepted by the PSL Governing Council and financial bids will be opened on Thursday.
“What’s heartening for us is the fact that out of the seven, six parties have submitted bids for all five franchises while only Arif Habib Group has submitted a bid for Karachi. So this shows that people are keen on what PSL has to offer,” added the official.
It remains to be seen whether any of the bidders have met the reserved price when the financial bids will be opened. “If none of them meet the price, then we’ll hold an auction between all seven parties,” said the official. “If more than one party meets the reserved price for a certain franchise, there will be rebidding between them, and the highest bidder will get the rights.”
The PSL is scheduled to be staged in Dubai and Sharjah from February 4-24 with the likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga, Dawyne Bravo, Angelo Mathews and others in attendance.
