Six of the ten Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have participated in The Hundred’s sale of teams. The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has started the process of equity sale, and the deadline for the first round of bids was October 18. According to Cricbuzz, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Delhi Capitals have officially placed bids to acquire a 49% stake in each of the eight teams.
Uncertainty over RR & GT’s Hundred bids
Rajasthan Royals (RR) have also placed a bid, but it can’t be confirmed as of now. Lead owner of RR, Manoj Badale, had expressed the desire to buy a Hundred team in the past, and the franchise had even tried to buy the Yorkshire Cricket Club not too long ago. It’s unsure whether the Gujarat Titans (GT) have placed a bid. The Torrent Group, which acquired a majority stake in GT, wasn’t interested, and the Indian officials of the CVC Capital Partners can’t confirm if their England arm showed interest or not.
No Hundred entry for RCB or PBKS
As reported earlier, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) aren’t interested in getting involved with the Hundred. For now, Diageo, the owners of RCB, seem satisfied with their IPL and Women’s Premier League teams. The Punjab Kings weren’t keen either.
The Hundred’s bidding process
The first round was to only check who were the interested parties. For now, teams don’t need to select which one of the eight teams they are interested in, that’ll be reserved for the remaining two rounds. The second round of bidding is expected to start after the IPL 2025 mega auction, and the ECB is expecting the valuation of each team to be somewhere between £75 and 100 million (Rs 822 to 1100 crore).
Since the ECB plans to sell 49% of teams and the remaining will be with the respective counties, one can expect bidders might have to spend about £37 to 50 million (Rs 405 to 550 crore). The counties can wish to sell the remaining 51% at their discretion.
