Delhi Capitals & Hampshire county (Twitter)
Delhi Capitals, through its co-owner GMR group, has shown interest in buying Hampshire County Cricket Club. As per reports, a £120m (INR 1278 crore) deal has been agreed in which, the group will have the full ownership of Hampshire and will also have a 51% stake in Southern Brave, which features in both men’s and women’s Hundred. The IPL franchise will also have the opportunity to convert it to 100% ownership in the future.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) reached out to IPL franchises in January with the offer to own stakes of teams in The Hundred. Multiple franchises showed interest but GMR group is believed to have become the first to crack a deal. Reports claim that they have defeated the RPSG group – owned by Sanjeev Goenka, who also owns Lucknow Super Giants – to own Hampshire.
Rod Bransgrove, who still owns 60% shares after stepping down in 2023, is expected to sell it to GMR group. The club has a debt of £60 million (INR 639 crore) and the club’s value increased to £100 million (INR 1065 crore) during the process of negotiation. As per the Daily Telegraph, the increment in valuation was measured keeping the international fixtures and strong ticket sales of Utilia Bowl (cricket stadium at Hampshire) in mind.
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Additionally, the GMR Group will also take control of the stadium, the Hilton hotel and a golf course at the same venue.
Besides Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Durham have the opportunity to sell their shares. All the other County Clubs are owned by members, which doesn’t allow them to sell their stake ‘without fan input’. After GMR group secured its deal with Hampshire, it needs to be seen if other IPL owners show interest in Northamptonshire and Durham or if they solely focus on buying stocks of The Hundred teams. They are believed to be in negotiation and multiple deals are expected to be cracked before the year ends.
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Notably, Hampshire previously collaborated with Rajasthan Royals between 2010 to 2013. They were called Hampshire Royals during that time. After the deal ended, they were back being known by the county name. Meanwhile, GMR group has shares in Dubai Capitals, Pretoria Capitals and Seattle Orcas.