The Hundred Receives £400m Private Equity Approach

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has received a £400m private equity approach that, if accepted, would see it relinquish majority ownership of The Hundred, according to Sky News.

Despite losing control of the sport’s newest competition, any deal would raise funds to inject into the sport’s cash-strapped counties.

The London-listed buyout firm providing the offer, Bridgepoint Group, is reportedly targeting a 75% stake in the competition, which would result in a potential £300m injection into English cricket.

However, a source claims that this offer is unlikely to be successful. It is thought that the ECB would be reluctant to hand over control of the sport’s latest competition, especially given its relative success over the first two summers.

Richard Thompson, the former Surrey County Cricket Club chairman, was recently installed as the ECB chair, has said that he wants cricket to become “the UK’s most inclusive sport” and The Hundred is seen as a key driver for those ambitions.

According to the ECB, more than 500,000 people attended matches across the 2022 competition, with a record 271,000 attending women’s matches.

In addition, more than 14m watched at least some of the tournament on Sky Sports and the BBC.

Sanjay Patel, Managing Director of The Hundred, said in September, “It’s been brilliant to see more families, more kids and record numbers attending the games this year.

“The Hundred is all about welcoming more people into cricket, and it has delivered on that again this year.”

According to a Sky News source close the offer, Bridgepoint’s interest in taking control of The Hundred would be designed to “turbocharge investment” into English cricket, and especially into developing the women’s game.

If the deal were to progress, each of the 18 counties which make up the sport’s domestic bedrock would receive a substantial sum at a time when many of them have seen their financial struggles deepen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the offer is likely to gain support from county chairs.

Bridgepoint already has a long track record of investing into sport. It previously owned MotoGP and Infront, the media rights agency that managed the commercial aspects of the Winter Olympics, and was also recently close to investing in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Image: Shutterstock