Mumbai Indians (MI) owners Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) are all set to make a ground-breaking deal and buy 49% stake in Oval Invincibles. The Ambani family which is known to be the richest in India won a virtual three-way auction which was conducted by the England an Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
According to Sky News, the price is unclear but the five-time IPL winning franchise are expected to pay around £60million. The current valuation of the Oval Invincibles is around £125million and the winning bid is understood to have been around a similar range.
The deal was not made official and the ECB will only reveal the details once all successful bidders are in place. RIL pipped the likes of Silicon Valley tech consortium (the big executives from Microsoft, Google and Adobe) and a private equity firm, CVC who own the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Oval Invincibles are the first team to be sold in the equity sale hosted by the ECB. It is a part of the privatization process of The Hundred. It is the merger of the two most successful franchises in the IPL and The Hundred. Mumbai Indians have the joint-most IPL titles (5) while Oval Invincibles have dominated the men’s and women’s competitions in The Hundred, both teams winning two each. The women’s side won it in 2021 and 2022 while the men’s team went back to back in 2023 and 2024.
This will be the 6th team that will be owned by RIL. They already own Mumbai Indians in the IPL and Women’s Premier League (WPL). In the last few years, they’ve invested in overseas teams in South Africa (MI Cape Town in the SA20), Dubai (MI Emirates in the ILT20) and USA (MI New York in the MLC).
Birmingham Phoenix sold to Knighthead Capital
According to sources on ESPNCricinfo, Birmingham Phoenix was the second team to be bought and Knighthead Capital which is a USA-based hedge fund acquired them. The firm bought the Birmingham City Football Club in 2023 and is eyeing a major investment in development of sports in Birmingham.
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) which owns the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and a few other franchises around the world is in the race for a stake in London Spirit. Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer is also in the fray for the Lords-based team. The remaining teams will be sold in the next week or so.
The 5th edition of The Hundred will be played between the 5th and 31st of August.
