A 49 per cent stake in London Spirit, the Lord’s-based Hundred franchise, has been sold to a consortium of Silicon Valley tech moguls with the franchise valued at a staggering £295 million at auction after a fierce bidding war.
London Spirit became the third Hundred franchise to be sold, with four contenders at the final stage:
Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of IPL team Lucknow Super Giants
Cain International, which was led by Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein and backed by the club’s joint-owner Todd Boehly
Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital
and the Silicon Valley consortium including Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO), Egon Durban (Silver Lake CEO) and is led by Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto CEO
A bidding war between Goenka and the Silicon Valley group escalated quickly with the other parties soon ruled out, and ended when the latter won.
The franchise was valued at £295 million, and they have bought a 49 per cent stake, meaning more than £145m will be spread through the game.
They will now enter a period of exclusivity with Marylebone Cricket Club, who own Lord’s, and will partner with them as the owners of Spirit, whose name could change soon.
On Thursday, the first day of the auction, 49 per cent stakes in Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix were sold. The Ambanis, the owners of Mumbai Indians and the richest family in Asia, have partnered with Surrey to co-own Oval Invincibles.
With the full franchise valued at £123 million, they have paid around £61 million for their 49 per cent stake. Then Knighthead Capital, the owners of Birmingham City and who have Tom Brady involved, bought a 49 per cent stake in the £82 million-valued Phoenix. That meant more than £100 million had been raised to be spread through the game.
Cardiff-based Welsh Fire are due to be sold later on Friday.
