Owners of Delhi Capitals, the GMR group have roped in Southern Brave to conclude the ECB's process of selling equity in the Hundred. They were already the major stakeholders after they had made clear intentions of buying the franchise previously.
Previously it was expected that they would hold a 51 percent stake at the club However, it was finally agreed on a 49 percent deal with the current brand value of the Southern Brave standing at £98 million (100%) - in the final auction conducted on Wednesday.
The GMR group are owners of several franchise teams across the different T20 leagues. They own the Delhi Capitals in the IPL and the WPL, Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 as well as the Seattle Orcas in the MLCT20.
GMR Group Fourth IPL Franchise To Have Majority Stake At The Hundred
With the GMR group adding the Southern Brave to their basket, a total of four IPL franchise owners now have a majority stake in The Hundred as of now. Northern Superchargers (Sun Group), Manchester Originals (RPSG Group) and Oval Invincibles (Reliance) are the other three franchises where IPL owners have stakes as well.
GMR's corporate chairman Grandhi Kiran Kumar had already made prior plans of roping in the Southern Brave at the recent Hundred Sale by the ECB. Grandhi told ESPNcricinfo on Monday that the acquisition of Southern Brave was part of his plan.
"We will evaluate as we go forward. Certainly, we are happy to work with ECB. We are certainly very keen and open" he said.
Kiran Kumar explained that the original plan did not involve bringing in an additional hundred franchises to the IPL. He emphasized that, as a business organization, their primary focus was to negotiate a business deal when Rod Bransgrove, the majority owner of Hampshire, first proposed selling his 60% stake in the company.
The GMR Group was particularly interested in the five-star Hilton hotel and golf course at the Utilita Bowl, and initially sought to establish a business deal. However, he mentioned that serious discussions took place regarding acquiring stakes in the franchise after the WTC 2023 final.
"We come from an infrastructure background. We are into airports, roads etc. When you see this, it is quite amazing with what they have done. When we visited the facilities, including the hotel, we were impressed" Grandhi told ESPNcricinfo.
"The entire concept is very nice, especially the fact that it was developed with keeping the fans in mind. Rod [Bransgrove] and his management team have kept the cricketing and sporting culture intact. I was quite amazed with the other facilities like the golf course. It is quite inclusive" he concluded saying.
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