A group of investors including Telugu actors Akkineni Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi has acquired a stake in cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar’s Kerala Blasters FC, a franchise in the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, for an undisclosed amount.
Film producer Allu Arvind and industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad are the other investors in the group that has purchased the stake in Blasters Sports Pvt Ltd, which owns Kerala Blasters. This is the group's first investment in a sports franchise.
Tendulkar will continue to hold a significant stake in the team, the company said in a statement.
“We are beginning our third season in right earnest and have some of the biggest names coming on board as investors in Kerala Blasters,†Tendulkar said.
Chiranjeevi said the new investors will work toward expanding the football base in the state.
Interestingly, the same set of investors had played a significant role in the turnaround of MAA Television Network Ltd, which sold its four Telugu entertainment channels in February last year to 21st Century Fox for about Rs 2,500 crore.
21st Century Fox is controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch also controls News Corp, the parent of this news website.
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