It has been a conversation from a long time about selling stakes and getting private equity interest in the Hundred. The step is set to benefit the English game as a whole. The ECB’s leadership believe that private investment will take the Hundred “to the next level” and turn it into the world’s second-biggest franchise league after the IPL.
The English Cricket Board has confirmed its financial advisors and legal counsel for the sale process, which it aims to complete by the end of this year ahead of a revamped competition in 2025.
Earlier this month, the counties gave their agreement to the ECB’s suggested “direction of travel”. They will all profit financially from the selling of stakes in the ECB’s eight hundred teams to private investors, who are likely to include IPL owners and private equity groups.
The ECB will sell its 49% stake, with 10% of the profits given to the recreational game in England and Wales and the rest to be shared by the counties.
Here’s What ECB’s director of business operations said
Vikram Banerjee, the ECB’s head of business operations, has overseen the process. He stated in an ECB news release, the board’s first public communication regarding the Hundred’s privatisation, that it would “unlock the future potential” of the Hundred while financially sustaining the rest of the sport.
“We have identified this moment as the opportunity to take the Hundred to the next level while capitalising on the global interest in the competition to underpin the structure of the whole domestic game,” Banerjee said. “The opportunity to engage new global strategic partners will help us unlock the future potential of the Hundred.
“We will be looking to engage the very best in world sport to grow the Hundred into a competition which can benefit the whole of cricket for years to come. With proceeds from any investment going direct to the recreational and the county game, it will support the other parts of cricket which are so cherished by fans and players alike and play an important role in identifying and developing talent.”
Here’s what the board says
The ECB claimed that the Hundred will play “a vital role in the future of our sport” and that other counties which are a part of the Hundred have been supportive of its intentions.
“The ambition is to seek partners with the expertise to help take the competition to the next level, while ensuring any investment benefits the whole of the game,” the board said.
“The ECB will continue working closely and collaboratively with its members through the process, including finalising how proceeds will be distributed among the first-class counties, MCC and the recreational game.”
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