Reliance Industries Limited, parent company of Mumbai Indians, signed a deal with the Oval Invincibles of The Hundred, acquiring a 49% stake in the franchise, valued at 123 million pounds sterling for the entire team. Reliance will pay 60 million pounds sterling for the total equity of 49 percent.
Reliance Industries (RIL) Diversifies Cricket Business Portfolio
The acquisition of the Oval Invincibles is a major step by RIL as an expansion of its cricket franchise, which it has already invested in on other frontiers: Mumbai Indians (IPL and WPL), MI New York (MLC), MI Cape Town (SA20) and MI Emirates (ILT20). The sixth team under the RIL Banner will add momentum to the Company’s global cricket presence-the Invincibles.
Intense Competition And Acquisition Terms
Their bid defied strong competition from a Silicon Valley tech consortium comprising Google’s top executive, a senior Microsoft executive and the head of Adobe, not to mention private equity giant CVC. According to reports, RIL’s final bid valued the Invincibles at £123 million, with the company’s 49% stake costing just over £60 million. The ECB has yet to officially confirm the successful bidders, though an announcement is expected next week.
Oval Invincibles – A Strong Brand
One of the most successful brands that came under The Hundred was Oval Invincibles. Similar to men, they took away consecutive titles for The Hundred, and their women’s teams also won two consecutive titles for each respective The Hundred. This epitomised success and attracted the gaze of investors. RIL came out as one of the strong contenders for English cricket.
Surrey To Retain Majority In Invincibles
Even with new investment by RIL, though, the control of the Surrey, the owner of the franchise Invincibles will not be going as the county club had stated early on that they would hold to the majority percentage of their equity even as host venues were granted the option for selling 51% of it in the privatisation process provided by the ECB.
Knighthead Capital To Buy Birmingham Phoenix
On the flip side, reports say, US-based hedge fund Knighthead Capital won Birmingham Phoenix. It will be Knighthead’s first adventure in the world of cricketing after it had bought Birmingham City Football Club back in 2023. In addition, it is investing in the city in new developments including a “sports quarter.”
A Year Of Transition For The Hundred
This might just be another exciting turn of things in The Hundred as RIL comes in and replaces the Invincibles. This will definitely be a transition year for the tournament, at least for 2025 which falls between August 5th to 31st. ECB was actually not looking to go head to head with Major League Cricket; one could see how all this was going to be playing out into the future.
As the season progresses, little other than a lead story should be written inside the embryonic narrative of The Hundred as these big-name ownership deals start to have their say.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye