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Exclusive: Interest in competition stretches as far as India, the US, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East
The England and Wales Cricket Board is closing in on securing as many as 100 suitors for the £500 million-valued Hundred sell-off ahead of a first-bid deadline this month.
Telegraph Sport understands 85 interested parties have already gained access to the sale “data room” while another 10 groups are in the process of signing non-disclosure agreements.
Sources with knowledge of the process underline significant international demand and are dismissive of Indian Premier League founder Lalit Modi’s recent criticism of “overly optimistic” projections.
Since the sale process for 49 per cent non-controlling stakes in the eight teams opened, all owners from the rival IPL have – as expected – been in close contact with dealmakers. However, they make up just a tenth of the pool of total potential bidders as the first deadline looms, with interest stretching as far as the US, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East.
The ECB, which appointed advisors the Raine Group and Deloitte, has been told the Hundred is worth £1 billion in total. There is now growing confidence that £500 million is an achievable target for all 49 per cent stakes combined.
The franchises based at Lord’s and the Oval are expected to be sold for the highest amounts, attracting up to three times as much as less-coveted teams. However, a “scarcity premium” has left dealmakers optimistic of driving up prices over the coming weeks. After first bids by Oct 18, the process will be quickly broken up into eight separate sales, with a shortlist of suitors drawn up for each individual side. At that point, the potential buyers will spend a month visiting the venues and meeting the counties as the vendors finalise their chosen partner.
In June, Telegraph Sport reported how the Glazer family, Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham group and Red Bull are among potential investors in franchises. Those currently inside the process decline to comment on such names, but sources confirm high net-worth individuals from both sides of the Atlantic, sports team owners, sports-specific funds and Major League Cricket owners in the US are now in the hunt. IPL and new Indian cricket investors are also on the growing list
October 18 will mark the end of the first phase, with new investment potentially in place by spring next year, although the ECB has set no hard deadline on completion for the process.
Presentations have already gone out, however, with the data room opening two weeks ago and now accessed by 85 parties. Around 15 more are expected to formalise interest in the coming days before tabling bids.
Those behind the scenes are thrilled by the level of demand, suggesting Modi’s warnings that the competition could be overvalued are a cynical effort to help IPL teams “get in at the lowest price”. “They’re trying to scare the market,” said one source, pointing out IPL teams are “leaning in”. Wider interest “literally runs the gamut” of global sport investment, due to the major earning potential of future international television rights sell-offs. Over the next decade, there is an ambition to follow a similar trajectory to the growth enjoyed in the IPL since 2009. The existing domestic partnership with Sky and the BBC has already been described as a major asset to “build on” by suitors. There is hope that in the long term the Hundred could even gain an edge on the IPL due to favourable screening times in the growing US market.
Most of the counties are said to welcome the prospect of a major cash injection for the English game, although Essex have repeatedly expressed concern.
GMR Group, which co-owns the Delhi Capitals of the Indian Premier League (IPL), this week completed a takeover of Hampshire – but the new owners would have to pay an additional sum for Hampshire’s 51 per cent stake in Southern Brave when plans to allow counties to also sell their stakes are ratified.
The proceeds of any sale will be spread throughout the county game. The ECB previously turned down an offer of £300 million for 75 per cent of the competition from private equity firm Bridgepoint in 2022.