Kings XI Punjab looking for buyer

The consortium that owns IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab is in discussions with a number of corporations to sell a stake in the team. "We are in talks with a lot of companies, but have not finalised anything yet," Mohit Burman, one of the promoters of the franchise, told Cricinfo in an email.

However, Burman refused on to confirm or deny a story in the Bangalore Mirror on Friday, which reported the consortium had applied to the BCCI for permission to sell 93% of the team to a private equity firm in London. The paper claimed the remaining 7% would remain with Preity Zinta, who apparently wishes to stay on as brand ambassador.

Zinta owns 23% of KPH Dream Private Limited, the company that owns the franchise. The remaining 77% is split between Bombay Dyeing's Ness Wadia (23%), Colway Investments (23%), MB Finmart, owned by Mohit Burman (11.5%), Windy Investments, owned by Gaurav Burman (11.5%); Apeejay Surrendra's Karan Paul (4%) and Roots Investment (4%).

The consortium paid $76 million for the Punjab franchise in 2008. The report claimed the sale is in the region of $250 million, meaning the promoters would make a profit of over 200%. At the second team auction in March this year, the Kochi and Pune franchises were sold for $333.33 million and $370 million respectively.

Punjab reached the semi-finals in the inaugural IPL season but struggled in the last two years, finishing fifth in 2009 and last in 2010, when they won just four games. The team was also dogged by controversy over its choice of captain, having replaced local hero Yuvraj Singh with Kumar Sangakkara.