Mumbai Indians, the cricket team owned by the Ambanis, India’s richest family, is in talks to buy a stake in the team that plays at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, the spiritual home of the game, as part of the auction of The Hundred competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board, according to a source close to the sales process.
The ECB started the new format in 2022 with the eight teams in the competition playing at venues that host international matches. It is now giving 51% stakes in these teams to the clubs that own those venues. In a plan to be voted on on May 10, clubs will be able to sell their stakes to third parties. The ECB will also be able to sell some or all of its remaining 49% stake in the competition.
The plan is subject to approval by the ECB’s members: the 18 county cricket teams and Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns Lord’s.
Cricket franchises have become increasingly valuable. Two new teams in the Indian Premier League were created in 2021 and sold for a combined US$1.6bn.
Indian investor RPSG bought the Lucknow franchise for US$940m and private equity investor CVC Capital Partners bought the Ahmedabad franchise for US$750m. That was more than was raised for all eight initial IPL teams in 2008.
Sports financiers believe that suggests the sale of a stake in a team that plays at Lord’s could fetch a significant sum. The auction is being run by Raine Group, which advised on the sales of English football teams Chelsea and Manchester United. Raine declined to comment.
The source said if the deal goes through, the Ambanis’ English team, currently called London Spirit, may be renamed MI London or MI Lord’s. The family has bought teams in South Africa and US cricket leagues that are now called MI Cape Town and MI New York.
Some host venues’ owners, such as Surrey County Cricket Club, which owns the Oval in south London, have said they will retain ownership of their Hundred teams for now. The MCC has yet to formally decide.
Club president Mark Nicholas has said he would like MCC to keep the team but such an important decision would likely have to face a vote by the club's members and indications are that they might prefer to sell, according to the source.
The ECB declined to comment. The MCC and the Ambanis did not respond to requests for comment.
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