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The winning bid by Reliance Industries Ltd, chaired by Mukesh Ambani, is widely understood to be worth about £60m, placing the overall value of the Invincibles at £123m. Reliance will now enter a period of exclusive talks with Surrey and the England and Wales Cricket Board in order to complete the deal.
It represents the first of eight auctions taking place over the next week, with the ECB selling 49% stakes in each of the Hundred teams and having gifted 51% to each of the host venues to sell or keep as they see fit. The process could raise £350m, money which is intended to go back into the county game and grassroots cricket.
The ECB’s 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix was also due to be sold on Thursday, with hosts Warwickshire having similarly opted to retain their majority share. The winning bid was still to be established overnight, however, with the ECB having instructed host venues to remain tight-lipped until all eight auctions are completed.
Friday will see stakes in London Spirit and Cardiff-based Welsh Fire sold, with the former expected to be the most lucrative given their home ground is Lord’s. Auctions for Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets and Southern Brave are due to follow next week, giving parties who miss out initially a second chance.
Among them are private equity firm CVC and a consortium of Silicon Valley investors, both of whom lost out to Reliance during Thursday’s initial three-way auction. Assuming the Reliance deal goes through, it will see Oval Invincibles added to a sporting portfolio that includes Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and WPL, MI Cape Town (SA20), MI …
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