The Hundred Auction: Which teams have been bought & by who?

The ECB's lucrative bidding process for all eight of the Hundred teams has been completed with over £950 million being raised from the auction.

Debuting in 2021, the innovative 100-ball competition has attracted significant interest from around the world with investors offered a minimum 49% share of each team. The affiliated counties retained a 51% share, which they could then choose to keep or sell.

The money raised from the auction is said to be reinvested across all 18 counties and into the grassroots level of the game, with the ECB hopeful that the windfall generated from the transactions will help clubs to sustain themselves for years to come.

Birmingham Phoenix

Purchased by Knighthead Capital (49%, £40 million)

One of the first Hundred teams to be sold at auction, the Birmingham Phoenix have been purchased by Knighthead Capital, the investment group who are currently backing Birmingham City FC.

Knighthead, who are in partnership with NFL legend Tom Brady, have pledged to invest over £2 billion in a new "sports quarter" in Birmingham and have bought a new 48-acre site for a new stadium, which will be the home of Birmingham City.

London Spirit

Purchased by US-based consortium including Google, Microsoft and Adobe (49%, £145 million)

London Sprit was valued at just shy of £300m as a Silicon Valley technology consortium, headed by Nikesh Arora and involving chief executives from Microsoft and Google, paid £145m for 49 per cent of the team.

Such a lavish outlay was anticipated given the prestige of London Spirit's home venue, Lord's.

Manchester Originals

Purchased by RPSG Group (70%, £81 million)

After losing the auction to purchase London Spirit, Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group secured a majority stake in the Manchester Originals.

RPSG own IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants, who reached the Eliminator stage of India's premier T20 competition in their first two seasons after being founded in 2021.

Lancashire CC were keen to work with an IPL franchise prior to the auction and had implemented a deliberate strategy to enhance their profile in India, conducting pre-season tours of the country and signing India internationals Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer.

Northern Superchargers

Purchased by Sun Group (100%, £100 million)

Northern Superchargers are the only Hundred team to be sold in full after Yorkshire CCC agreed a deal to sell their entire stake to the Sun Group, who are owned by Kalanithi Maran.

The Indian conglomerate have another two T20 franchises in their portfolio having acquired the IPL's Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012 and the SA20's Sunrisers Eastern Cape in 2023.

Oval Invincibles

Purchased by Ambani Family (49%, £60 million)

Surrey CCC retained a majority stake in the 2024 men's Hundred champions the Oval Invincibles as Reliance Industries Limited, owned by the multi-billionaire Ambani family, purchased 49 per cent for £60m.

Reliance Industries, who are India's biggest conglomerate, also own the Mumbai Indians, one of the most popular and successful IPL franchises.

Southern Brave

Purchased by GMR Group (49%, £48 million)

GMR Group, who co-own IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, completed a takeover of Southern Brave's host county Hampshire last year and their 49% acquisition means they now have full control of the Hundred team.

The Brave were the final side to be purchased at the auction and raised the number of Hundred teams acquired by Indian Premier League owners to four.

Trent Rockets

Purchased by Todd Boehly - Cain International (49%, £40 million)

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has paid £40m for a 49 per cent stake in the Trent Rockets to extend his evergrowing sports portfolio.

The American billionaire, who purchased Chelsea for £4.25bn in 2022, is also the co-owner of Ligue 1 team Strasbourg and minority owner of LA Dodgers in Major League Baseball.

Welsh Fire

Purchased by Sanjay Govil (49%, £40 million)

US-based technology entrepreneur Sanjay Govil tabled the winning bid for a 49 per cent share of the Welsh Fire.

Govil, who owns the Major League Cricket outfit Washington Freedom, fended off interest from Carpi International to acquire the Cardiff-based Hundred team.

Owner of Zyter, Govil is the founder of Infinite Computer Solutions, which has an annual revenue of $2bn.