Nearly five years ago, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chose to punt by introducing a tournament played in an entirely new format. In September last year, they doubled down on this gamble by putting 49% of the stakes in each of the eight franchises up for auction, primarily to support county cricket. The final stage of the equity sale has just begun, with suitors worldwide ready to grab the shares.
Earlier, the ECB shortlisted potential bidders, allowing them to target the specific franchises they were most interested in. It has been reported that both London-based teams, Oval Invincibles and London Spirit, were the most in-demand, followed by Manchester Originals. The shortlist includes big names from the IPL and global tech giants.
Although the English Cricket Board has not announced it officially, it is understood that the Surrey-based franchise, Oval Invincibles has been successfully auctioned off to Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), who also own Mumbai Indians. Reportedly, the bid stood at £123 million for 100% stakes of the franchise, which works out to over £60 million for 49% stakes.
RIL, owned by the Ambani Family, won the bid over a tech consortium that included Google, Microsoft, and Adobe, as well as a private equity firm called CVC, which bought Gujrat Titans in the IPL in 2021. RIL will now enter a period of exclusivity with the host county, Surrey, the ECB, and financial advisors to negotiate the sale.
Although the ECB allowed the host counties to sell part of their 51% stakes to make the deals more attractive, Surrey have maintained their stance of not doing so.
Both CVC and the tech consortium, who were unsuccessful with the Oval Invincible bid, are on the list targetting other franchises including Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit respectively. Besides these two bidders, the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, RPSG, the owners of the Lucknow Super Giants (the most expensive IPL franchise), and GMR group, the owner of Delhi Capitals, are also understood to be on the shortlist.
As per reports, RPSG is on the shortlist to vie for the London Spirit as well as Manchester Originals. However, other investors, like the consortium, are also on the outlook for Spirit. The Sun Group is likely to target Trent Rockets, Northern Superchargers, and Welsh Fire. For the teams with more than two bidders still in contention, a live auction will be held, as was the case with Oval Invincibles. For teams with two or fewer investors, the process will include sealed bids, with each investor submitting their bid price in private.
With Oval Invincibles nearly sold to Mumbai Indian owners, the remaining teams will go under the hammer in the following days. The dates for the auction of the teams are understood to be the following.
January 30: Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix
January 31: London Spirit and Welsh Fire
February 3: Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, and Trent Rockets
February 10: Southern Brave
The ECB hopes to raise at least £350 million from the equity sales, which will be divided between all eighteen counties, the MCC, women’s cricket, and grassroots cricket initiatives. Richard Gould, the ECB CEO, said that the proceeds will help secure the counties’ financial futures for at least the next two decades.
“The aim is to raise significant investment that’s going into the game. My hope is this will recapitalise the county game for the next 20-25 years.”
The transfer of ownership after the sales is expected to be completed before the 2026 edition of the Hundred.
