RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group renames IPL team Rising Pune Super Giants

The group said that the acronym for the IPL cricket team is the same as group's: RP-SG

Kolkata-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has renamed its IPL Pune franchisee as Rising Pune Super Giants, in sync with its branding pursuit.

On Monday, the group said that the abbreviated name is the same as group's name: RP-SG.

"From Day One, we had indicated that our entry in the sports vertical will be for branding purpose," group chairman, Sanjiv Goenka said.

Apart from making sure to reflect the abbreviated group's name on its franchisee, the logo of the IPL cricket team also features part of the business group's logo and is designed using the corporate group's colours.The players' shirts may also use the same hues as the RP-SG group.

The team has narrowed in on former Indian cricket team skipper M S Dhoni as its captain for the 2016 season of the IPL. Dhoni was earlier captain of the successful Chennai Super Kings, whose promoters were barred from the franchise after the Justice Lodha committee found them guilty of match-fixing. An earlier IPL team Pune Warriors, owned by Sahara India, was disenfranchised from the IPL by the BCCI after it defaulted on bank guarantees following a meltdown in the promoter company's finances. 

Additionally, former Rajasthan Royals' senior official Raghu Iyer has been brought in as the CEO of the RP-SG group's sports vertical; the team will bid for players in the February 6 auction later this year.

Hinting at an entry into other sports as well, Goenka said, "We'll be more aggressive in the sports vertical in the coming days."

Initially, the company's decision to enter into sports hadn't gone down well with its shareholders as CESC shares took a beating after Goenka decided to buy a stake in the Pune IPL team.

However, Goenka said the decision would not reflect on its publicly listed companies.

"No losses from cricket will get reflected in the shares of our public listed companies", he said.

The market had perceived that the group's entry into the sports vertical might affect the bottom line of CESC, the RPSG group flagship company. The Pune franchisee is owned by New Rising, a subsidiary of CESC.