In new innings beyond cricket, CSK sets up marriage hall in Chennai

CHENNAI: Five-time IPL champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has quietly stepped into a new arena, this time not on the cricket field but in the heart of city’s bustling Tiruvanmiyur.

Nestled close to the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) IT corridor, CSK’s latest venture is a sprawling, ultra-modern banquet complex named Sharada Hall.

Designed to host weddings and social gatherings, the new hall marks a fresh chapter for the franchise.

Initially, in August 2023, the CSK board had approved the purchase of a land parcel measuring 19,208 sq ft at Tiruvanmiyur owned by EWS Finance and Investments Private Limited (belonging to CSK promoters’ N Srinivasan and family, with 21.47 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital in the company) for Rs 70 crore.

The plans were to establish a cricket academy and high-performance centres.

A fact confirmed in its annual report of 2023, wherein CSK said “property is ...ideally suited for setting up cricket academy and High Performance Centres and would be useful for various business purposes of the Company.”

It further said the said property is “ideally suited for multi-purpose utility viz., holding classes, coaching centres, training the coaches, conducting periodical meetings with the participants, in addition to having regular offices,” terming the Rs 70 crore “proposed consideration to be fair and reasonable and based on the prevailing market value at an arm’s length basis and would be supported by a valuation report.”

The franchise had to obtain shareholders’ approval as mandated by section 188 of the Companies Act, 2013, as the property was worth more than 10% of its net worth.

Subsequently, in 2024, the purchase price of the same Tiruvanmiyur property was finalised at Rs 6540.01 lakh.

This was “approved by the shareholders at the 9th Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 27th September 2023,” the annual report said.

So, the team’s promoters rejigged their plans and ended up completing and modernising the facility into a grand celebratory space.

Also, CSK founder N Srinivasan and his family are known to be devout followers of Sringeri Sharada Peetam and its acharyas, which explains the name choice.