Mumbai Indians owners Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) are set to acquire a 49% stake in the Hundred franchise Oval Invincibles after winning a three-way bidding war in a virtual auction on Thursday, according to a report.
RIL, owned by the Ambani family, has entered an exclusivity period to finalise agreements with Surrey, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and financial advisors before completing the purchase, according to a report in 'ESPNCricinfo'.
The winning bid reportedly values the franchise at 123 million pounds, meaning RIL will pay just over 60 million pounds for its 49% stake.
RIL won a fiercely contested e-auction, fending off competition from a Silicon Valley tech consortium, comprising the chief executives of Google, Microsoft, and Adobe, as well as private equity giant CVC, the owners of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans, according to the report.
Mumbai Indians are one of the most successful IPL franchises while Surrey are the richest English county club. Oval Invincibles, the two-time defending champions in the men's Hundred, became the first team to be sold in the final round of the ECB's sales process.
After the acquisition, Oval Invincibles will become the sixth team under RIL’s management, joining Mumbai Indians (IPL and WPL), MI New York (MLC), MI Cape Town (SA20), and MI Emirates (ILT20).
"RIL were widely linked with buying a stake in London Spirit, the Hundred team based at Lord's, but moved their focus towards the Invincibles as the sales process went on," the report said.
"Host venues were given the option to sell some of the 51% stake that they will be gifted by the ECB as part of the privatisation process. However, according to the report Surrey have held firm on their stance that they will retaining their controlling shares."
