As efforts to privatize The Hundred gain traction, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is requiring potential investors, including Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before accessing details about the 100-ball league or its finances.
The ECB has engaged Raine Group and Deloitte to lead this initiative. These financial firms are in talks with IPL franchises regarding potential investments in The Hundred’s eight teams or counties and are requiring NDAs before sharing the Information Memorandum (IM), a detailed document focused primarily on financial information.
Requesting a formal NDA is standard in business practices. However, IPL teams have rarely been required to sign such agreements by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has managed the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 17 years.
“It’s a standard practice to require NDAs, given that the IM includes financial information,” an ECB spokesperson told Cricbuzz
It is publicly known that the GMR Group, part owners of the Delhi Capitals, has signed an agreement with Hampshire County but has not disclosed details, likely due to an NDA. A team from the South has confirmed signing the NDA, receiving the Information Memorandum (IM), and is currently reviewing it.
Interested buyers for The Hundred teams include Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, SunRisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, owned by a British company.
A key issue for investors is control. The ECB has stated it will not relinquish control, holding a 49% stake in each of the eight Hundred teams, with the county or team holding 51%. The ECB is willing to sell its 49% stake, and if an investor also acquires a stake from the county, they could control the team’s operations, though this would not extend to other ECB activities or competitions.
“The ECB retains overall control of the competition. The investment is into the eight Hundred teams. The ECB will have a 49 percent stake in each team, and the host venue will have a 51 percent. We (the ECB) are offering our 49 per cent stake for sale and each venue can decide whether to offer all or part of its 51 percent.
“We expect there to be a variety – for some teams, it may be a 49 percent stake which is available, for others it may be a majority stake. No investor gets control over running the county. The Hundred team is a separate entity. So if one invests in Oval Invincibles, they are only investing in Oval Invincibles, they are not getting control of Surrey County Cricket Club,” the spokesperson added.
Cricbuzz spoke to the IPL teams, who are assessing the potential benefits. “(Signing) NDA is all right, you can do all that. But at the end of the day, how serious you are depends upon what the terms and conditions are. So you are in it for what? You are in it for your value to go out. You are in it for the love of the sport. You are in it to play a small role in developing the sport. And if you do not, if you cannot control that, or if you cannot guide that, then is there a purpose? I think it’s a question we need to ask ourselves. If you can, then, of course, it’s a different story,” Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of LSG team said.
Four seasons of The Hundred are complete. Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets, and Welsh Fire are up for investment. Team ownership details and share amounts are expected to be known next month.
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