English cricket has landed a multi-million pound windfall after a Silicon Valley tech consortium won a bidding war with the Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group for a 49% stake in London Spirit, the Hundred team based at Lord’s.
The winning bid made by the consortium, headed by Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks, valued the Spirit at £295 million, more than twice the price paid by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for Oval Invincibles on Thursday. It means they will pay £144.55m for a 49% stake in the Spirit, with MCC intending to retain its position as majority shareholder.
The price is more than double the floor valuation set for London Spirit based on investors’ indicative bids and represents a significant injection of funds into English cricket. The revenue raised in the sales process will be split between the 18 first-class counties, MCC and the recreational game and is designed to “future-proof” county cricket for the next 20 years. RPSG Group is understood to have quit the race at the £292 million mark.
The consortium – under the name Cricket Investor Holdings Limited – includes Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Shantanu Narayen and Egon Durban, the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Silver Lake Management respectively, as well as Arora and Satyan Gajwani, who is one of the co-founders of the US-based Major League Cricket and vice-chairman of Times Internet, the Indian digital giant.
It is understood that the consortium’s bid was spearheaded by Arora and Gajwani, after they were among the last investors to enter the race. ESPNcricinfo understands that there are 11 individuals involved in the consortium in total, five of whom are yet to be named publicly.
Mark Nicholas, MCC’s chairman, told members on Friday evening: “We are delighted to have found partners who share our values and understand the power and mystique of Lord’s. We look forward to building on the happy relationship we have already established over the past few weeks.”
Nicholas said that there had been “remarkable interest” from investors, and wrote: “Today’s announcement shows what we as Members have always known: our Club is special. It’s why people want to be involved with us. I hope that all Members are as proud as I am and excited at the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Avram Glazer, the co-owner of Manchester United, and Cain International, who are run by Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein, were also involved in the auction process on Friday afternoon but pulled out early on. It is thought that what one source described as “the Lord’s factor” played a significant role in the unexpectedly high price for the Spirit.
The consortium will now enter into a period of exclusive negotiations with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the host venue’s owner, and complete an agreement in the eight-week window set by ECB from the completion of the final round of the bidding process. MCC has maintained throughout that it intends to retain its 51% share in the franchise.
The Spirit are defending champions in the women’s Hundred, with England captain Heather Knight leading them to their inaugural title last year and India’s Deepti Sharma hitting the winning runs in the final. Their men’s team, by contrast, have only won three games in the last two Hundred seasons, and finished bottom in 2024.
RPSG Group are now expected to refocus their attention to Manchester Originals next week, having held detailed meetings with Lancashire over the past nine months. RIL were also understood to be on the shortlist for the Originals but are out of the running after buying a stake in Oval Invincibles.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor.