The financially strained Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) plunged deeper into crisis on Friday, with the Bombay High Court rejecting its application for another extension to furnish the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with a bank guarantee of Rs. 100 crore to save its IPL team, Deccan Chargers.
“They were supposed to give the guarantee today [Friday] by 5 p.m. but it did not come. They filed an application for extension, but the court did not entertain it saying it won’t extend [the deadline] even for an hour. The [revocation of] termination depended on the bank guarantee. However, in the absence of it, the termination will now take effect,” senior advocate T.N. Subramaniam, appearing for the BCCI, told The Hindu on the phone.
The DCHL, which got an extension on October 9 from the court till October 12, sought another extension until October 15.
In a bid to mobilise funds, the company hurriedly arranged a buyer for Deccan Chargers, but following the court’s rejection of the application, the fate of the deal is now in question.
Agency reports said the BCCI has terminated the Hyderabad franchise.
Earlier in the day, the DCHL announced its decision to sell Deccan Chargers to the Mumbai-based real estate developer Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.
Parties silent
Analysts put the deal at Rs. 1,000 crore, but the two parties kept mum.
DCHL shares rose 4.92 per cent to Rs 9.60 on the BSE following the announcement.
“Pursuant to its meeting of the board of directors held on October 11, it was resolved to authorise the board of directors to sell, transfer or dispose of the Deccan Chargers Franchise business undertaking, business division of the company, to Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Private Limited,” DCHL said in a filing to the stock exchange.
Low-profile developer
Kamla Landmarc is a low-profile developer, having undertaken some housing projects in Mumbai.
Nothing much is known about the company, and even Mumbai’s top developers were clueless. Kamla’s website says the company has been into realty business since 1974. While Ramesh C. Jain is its chairman, Shivram Dalvi, a two-time MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party, is the vice-chairman.
