Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has bought a minority stake in the Nottingham-based Hundred franchise Trent Rockets for almost £40 million.
Cain International, the company Boehly co-funded with Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein, placed the winning bid for Trent Rockets, the seventh franchise to be sold as part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s auction process.
The auction valued the Trent Bridge team at around £80 million, and Cain – who are working with Ares Management, a private equity firm – have bought a 49 per cent stake. They will now enter a period of exclusivity with Nottinghamshire CCC, who will retain a controlling (51 per cent) stake in Trent Rockets.
This takes the running total of valuations of Hundred franchises beyond £850 million, with one more sale, Southern Brave, to come on Wednesday. They are expected to be picked up by host county Hampshire’s owners GMR, the Indian business that co-owns IPL team Delhi Capitals. The total to be shared between the counties and recreational game should cross £450 million when Brave are sold.
Boehly had previously been in the running for both London franchises, but was outbid for both London Spirit (by a tech consortium led by Palo Alto boss Nikesh Arora) and Oval Invincibles (by the Ambani family, owners of Mumbai Indians).
He has since turned his attention to Trent Rockets, whose late position in the sales process meant they were picked up for a relative snip, with some parties interested in buying them already snapping up other teams, such as Sunrisers Hyderabad, who bought a 100 per cent stake in Northern Superchargers and Lucknow Super Giants, who bought a 70 per cent stake in Manchester Originals.
Boehly’s winning bid means that the ECB’s stated aim to have four of the eight teams owned by IPL franchises will be achieved. Two of the eight are involved in English football: Boehly’s group, as well as Knighthead Capital, the owners of Birmingham City who have picked up a 49 per cent stake in Edgbaston-based Birmingham Phoenix.
