English cricket’s landmark Hundred sale produced an eventful first day as the Ambanis, India’s richest family, and Knighthead Capital, owners of Birmingham City, secured the right to buy 49% stakes in Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix respectively.
The Guardian has learned that Knighthead’s offer of about £40m for 49% of the Phoenix prevailed in a sealed-bids auction over that of private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. CVC had earlier lost out to Reliance Industries Ltd, owners of Mumbai Indians, in a three-way auction for the equivalent stake in Oval Invincibles.
The winning bid by Reliance, who are chaired by Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest person, is understood to be worth about £60m, placing the overall value of the Oval Invincibles at £123m. It means the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) raised £100m on the first day of the process and is on course to meet its initial target of £350m. The money will be redistributed to the counties and the grassroots game.
London Spirit has been valued by those involved in the process at about £150m, which would bring in another £75m for the ECB, while the Manchester Originals’ valuation is forecast to be close to £100m. The London Spirit auction will take place on Friday along with that for Cardiff-based Welsh Fire, with those for Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets and Southern Brave due to follow next week.
Reliance and Knighthead will now enter a six-week period of exclusive talks with Surrey and Warwickshire respectively, as well as the ECB and its financial advisers, in order to complete the deal.
As well as the strong valuations, the identity of the first two winning bidders will be viewed as encouraging by the ECB. In addition to their vast resources, the Ambanis are hugely influential within India, while the governing body has actively courted American owners linked to football clubs throughout the process.
Knighthead is controlled by hedge fund manager Tom Wagner, who has unveiled ambitious plans for a new stadium since buying Birmingham City, and includes legendary American football quarterback Tom Brady as one of the club’s shareholders.
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 Emirates (ILT20) and MI New York (Major League Cricket).
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While Oval Invincibles are the most successful Hundred franchise to date, having won the men’s and women’s titles twice in the past four years, it remains to be seen whether they retain their name and colours or adopt the “MI” moniker and livery to denote their new co-owners. Little is expected to change for this year’s tournament, with the new ownership model set to come into effect ahead of the 2026 season.
Richard Gould, the chief executive of the ECB and once a vocal critic of the Hundred during his time at Surrey, has previously said the sell-off will “recapitalise the county game for the next 20-25 years” provided the money is used wisely. The recreational game is due to receive 10% of proceeds from the sale.
Surrey and Warwickshire were contacted for comment.
