IPL billionaires pay £60m for stake in the Hundred’s Oval Invincibles

The Ambanis, India’s wealthiest family and the owners of Mumbai Indians, have secured a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles after a landmark day for English cricket that saw the sale of the eight Hundred teams get under way.

The winning bid by Reliance Industries Ltd, chaired by Mukesh Ambani, is widely understood to be worth about £60m, placing the overall value of the Invincibles at £123m. Reliance will now enter a period of exclusive talks with Surrey and the England and Wales Cricket Board in order to complete the deal.

It represents the first of eight auctions taking place over the next week, with the ECB selling 49% stakes in each of the Hundred teams and having gifted 51% to each of the host venues to sell or keep as they see fit. The process could raise £350m, money which is intended to go back into the county game and grassroots cricket.

The ECB’s 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix was also due to be sold on Thursday, with hosts Warwickshire having similarly opted to retain their majority share. The winning bid was still to be established overnight, however, with the ECB having instructed host venues to remain tight-lipped until all eight auctions are completed.

Friday will see stakes in London Spirit and Cardiff-based Welsh Fire sold, with the former expected to be the most lucrative given their home ground is Lord’s. Auctions for Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets and Southern Brave are due to follow next week, giving parties who miss out initially a second chance.

Mukesh Ambani and his son Anant Ambani (right) head India’s richest family. Photograph: Rajanish Kakade/AP

Among them are private equity firm CVC and a consortium of Silicon Valley investors, both of whom lost out to Reliance during Thursday’s initial three-way auction. Assuming the Reliance deal goes through, it will see Oval Invincibles added to a sporting portfolio that includes Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and WPL, MI Cape Town (SA20), MI Emirates (ILT20) and MI New York (Major League Cricket).

While Oval Invincibles are the most successful Hundred franchise to date, having won the men’s and women’s titles twice in the past four years, it remains to be seen whether they retain their name and colours or adopt the “MI” moniker and livery to denote their new co-owners. Little is expected to change for this year’s tournament, with the new ownership model set to come into effect ahead of the 2026 season.

Richard Gould, the chief executive of the ECB and once a vocal critic of the Hundred during his time at Surrey, has previously said the sell-off will “recapitalise the county game for the next 20-25 years” provided the money is used wisely. The recreational game is due to receive 10% of proceeds from the sale.