A consortium of Silicon Valley tech billionaires has agreed to buy a 49% stake in The Hundred franchise London Spirit, UK media reports have confirmed.
Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, led by US cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks chairman and chief executive Nikesh Arora and Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman of Times Internet Ltd, is poised to purchase a holding in the Lord’s-based side, with reports suggesting it would cost them £145 million ($180m), which would value Spirit at around £300m ($373m).
The 11-strong consortium and the Marylebone Cricket Club, which has been handed 51% of the Spirit’s shares by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will now enter into an eight-week period of negotiations to thrash out the finer details of the deal.
Other than Arora and Gajwani, the consortium includes Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Egon Durban, co-CEO of Silver Lake Management LLC.
Pichai’s interest in cricket is well-known, reflecting a broader trend among Indian-origin tech leaders supporting the sport internationally.
Manchester United co-chair Avram Glazer’s Lancer Capital was among those hoping to win an influential role at the home of cricket – whose Lord’s base was expected to fetch the biggest purse – though other groups, including one affiliated to Chelsea’s Todd Boehly, were expected to provide stiff competition.
In a related development, Birmingham City owners Knighthead – for whom NFL great Brady acts as a minority investor – reportedly succeeding in a £40m deal to acquire Edgbaston-based Birmingham Phoenix.
Former Gloucestershire spinner Vikram Banerjee, now director of business operations at the ECB, is leading the sale process on behalf of the governing body, with the project being run in concert with Raine Group and Deloitte.
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