Tech giants vying with IPL owners in final round of Hundred franchise sales

At least four IPL franchises, along with a consortium of global tech giants, comprising leaders of Google and Microsoft, are on the shortlist to make the final round of the ECB’s sale of the eight Hundred franchises.

As per information gathered by ESPNcricinfo, the shortlist includes: owners of four IPL franchises, including Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals co-owners GMR Group, who recently bought majority ownership of Hampshire. All the investors shortlisted will need to make one final financial bid, which will be binding, with the highest bid determining the winner for each of the eight franchises.

The ECB drew up its shortlist on December 23, after initial rounds of consultation between the host counties of the eight franchises and the investors late in 2024. This was based on a wishlist from the host counties, as well as the non-binding floor valuation price put in by investors for each of the teams they bid for. In the initial round, investors could bid for all eight franchises, but in the trimmed-down list, the ECB has mapped each investor for at least one franchise based on their wishlist.

The ECB has confirmed with the shortlisted investors that their final bid will be binding and cannot be lower than the floor valuation price, which would act as a reserve price in the final round. With the bidding process still not over, and the ECB set to announce the schedule for 2025 Hundred season this week, the new owners will only assume control from 2026 onwards.

Predictably, both London-based franchises, Oval Invincibles (hosted by Surrey) and London Spirit (hosted by MCC) have had the most suitors, but Manchester Originals (hosted by Lancashire) have proven equally popular. Those on the shortlist for the Invincibles are five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians and the consortium of tech giants, while Lancer Capital, who are run by Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer and run Desert Vipers in the ILT20, have shown strong interest in both London teams.

The consortium is also understood to be on the shortlist for Spirit, whose home venue is Lord’s. It comprises Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO), Egon Durban (Silver Lake Management CEO) and Satyan Gajwani, who is one of the co-founders of the USA-based Major League Cricket, as well as vice-chairman of Times Internet, an Indian digital giant. The consortium is led by Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, US-based cyber security major.

Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Group is also on the shortlist to buy Spirit. Goenka owns the most expensive IPL franchise, the Lucknow-based Super Giants, which was launched in 2022. It is believed that RPSG’s floor valuation in earlier rounds for the Spirit was a nine-figure sum. RPSG is also understood to have been placed on the shortlist for the Originals, whose home base is Old Trafford, along with at least two other franchises.

Mumbai are also on the shortlist for Manchester Originals. It is understood that the investors’ interest in the city is because it is synonymous with two of the most famous Premier League football clubs – Manchester United and Manchester City. As a University town, it also has a significant youth population, which is another appealing factor.

A further reason stems from the conversations that Originals have had with the investors on the shortlist, Lancashire, the Originals’ host country, are believed to have been flexible about allowing the franchise owners to handle the cricketing arm of the operations, which is a big factor for several investors, especially the IPL teams. Lancashire CEO Daniel Gidney had told ESPNcricinfo last August that the county would “love to work with” an IPL team because of the “opportunities” the joint venture could bring to both parties.

The Sun Group, which owns Sunrisers franchises in IPL and SA20, are understood to be shortlisted for three Hundred teams: Nottingham-based Trent Rockets, Leeds-based Northern Superchargers and Cardiff-based Welsh Fire. Global fund manager CVC Capital Partners, which bought Gujarat Titans franchise in IPL in 2021, are undestood to be on the shortlist for Birmingham Phoenix.

Originally several other IPL team owners had expressed interest in buying stake in the Hundred franchises, including Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings. However, it is understood that neither Royals nor Punjab are on the shortlist at the moment. It could not be confirmed whether the Super Kings and Knight Riders, who have teams in overseas T20 leagues outside India, have been shortlisted. It is understood that Sanjay Govil, the US-based entrepreneur who owns Washington Freedom, is interested in three franchises, all of them based outside of London.

The ECB is selling 49% stakes in each of the eight teams in the Hundred, which will be turned into franchises and will initially be run as joint-ventures with the host counties (or, in the case of London Spirit, MCC). Last November, with some 100 investors reportedly showing interest, ECB chairman Richard Thompson told City AM that their target of “£350 million” was going to be “comfortably” exceeded.

While the ECB will be happy that its goal of privatising the Hundred is moving in the right direction, several bidders have expressed reservations about the process, including the projected financial returns quoted by ECB in the prospectus distributed to investors. Last September, Lalit Modi, IPL’s founding chairman, described them as “dangerously overambitious and unsustainable“.

Additional reporting by Matt Roller.