Stakes of 49% in two of the eight teams from English cricket’s short-form Hundred competition – London’s Oval Invincibles, and the Birmingham Phoenix – have now been sold, as a week-long auction gets underway.
India’s Ambani family, which owns the Mumbai Indians team from the Indian Premier League (IPL), as well as several other affiliate franchises worldwide, has snapped up 49% of the Oval Invincibles, while the Knighthead Capital US investment group has purchased the same stake in the Birmingham Phoenix.
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In total, those stakes have brought in around £100 million ($123.9 million) for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) governing body – which held complete ownership of the teams previously – it has been reported.
The Guardian publication has reported that the Ambani’s (and their Reliance Industries conglomerate) came out on top against CVC Capital Partners in a bidding process for the Invincibles stake and that CVC also lost out to Knighthead when putting themselves forward as partner for the Phoenix.
Out of the remaining six Hundred franchises (who will all have stakes sold over the next few days, through to February 10), the teams being auctioned today are the London Spirit and the Welsh Fire. All winning bidders will then have eight weeks to formally seal and sign off on the agreements.
The Reliance bid for the Invincibles is understood to be in the region of £60 million, with that group and Knighthead Capital (who also own third-tier English soccer team Birmingham City) now set to enter a period of exclusive talks with Surrey and Warwickshire – the respective host counties behind the Invincibles and the Phoenix. Those counties have opted to retain the 51% controlling stake in the Hundred teams gifted to them by the ECB.
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By GlobalDataOverall, the ECB hopes to raise around £350 million from the sale of these eight stakes, with the process having got underway in September. The body will officially unveil the eight winning bidders at the end of next week.
In terms of valuations for the other franchises, a 49% stake in the London Spirit – who play at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London – has been valued at close to £75 million.
Reliance, aside from the Mumbai Indians, also owns teams in South Africa (MI Cape Town), and the United Arab Emirates (MI Emirates).
Knighthead, meanwhile, is controlled by US hedge fund manager Tom Wagner and bought Birmingham City in 2023. It counts former NFL legend Tom Brady as one of its shareholders and reportedly has bought 49% of the Phoenix for around £41 million.
Wagner has previously said he could invest as much as £2 billion in a new Birmingham ‘sports quarter’.
The Oval Invincibles’ men’s and women’s teams have each won the competition twice, while neither of the Phoenix’s sides have yet done so.
In November, Richard Thompson, the ECB’s chair, told City AM that their valuation of £350 million (for 49% stakes in all eight teams) would be met and exceeded.
Earlier this week, it was reported that other groups in the running to buy stakes include the owners of three other IPL sides – the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants, and Delhi Capitals.
Deloitte and The Raine Group have assisted English cricket’s governing body during this process.
