Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise of IPL owners Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has bought the Oval Invincible team in The Hundred.
Mumbai-based Mukesh Ambani, owner of the RIL company, is Asia’s richest man. His Mumbai Indians team has subsidiaries in practically every league in the world, including ILT20 in the UAE (MI Emirates), SA 20 (MI Cape Town), and MLC in the United States (MY NY). The Ambanis will now have to negotiate with Surrey County, which owns 51% of the shares.
The Ambanis were always interested in one of the London-based teams, the other being Lord’s headquartered London Spirit, and they eventually settled on the Invincibles.
Mumbai Indians now own Oval Invincibles in the Hundred for GBP 123 million
As per a Cricbuzz report, MI won a three-way bidding war in which US IT entrepreneurs and CVC Capital, a private equity group that owns the Gujarat Titans in the IPL, also competed.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) declined to comment, however, it is understood that the enterprise value of the Surrey-based South London squad in the 100-ball event is 123 million GBP. The e-auction, which determined the winner, was for a 49 percent share and would cost RIL up to 61 million GBP.
They can own the 100 percent or controlling stake once Surrey County which owns a 51 percent stake, divests with its share. The Invincibles were the winners of The Hundred in the first two seasons.
A spokeswoman for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) declined to confirm the news, saying, “Not going to comment.” The bidding began around 2.30 PM GMT on Thursday, with Oval Invincibles first in the blocks.
GMR, Delhi Capitals owners, vying for Southern Brave franchise
GMR, part-owners of the IPL’s Delhi Capitals, just purchased Hampshire County, so it’s understandable that they’d want to buy the Southampton-based Southern Brave. However, the GMR is unlikely to acquire the Braves by default. The franchise is expected to be sold last and GMR will have to compete with investors to take Southern Brave.
The Birmingham City football team’s owners have purchased the Birmingham Phoenix for an estimated 82 million GBP. Birmingham City, a former Premier League club, is now owned by Knighthead Capital.
They now compete in the EFL League, the second division of English football. Warwickshire runs Phoenix, and it is known that the county is hesitant to sell its 51% stake, either partially or whole.
The ECB is conducting the sale in stages so that investors who do not secure a team can return to bid on the remaining sides. The ECB will take up two more counties on Friday, London Spirit and Cardiff-based Welsh Fire, before concluding the auction for the remaining four sides next week: Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets, and Southern Brave.
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