Mumbai Indians owners bag 49% stake in Oval Invincibles

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the owners of the Mumbai Indians franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), have successfully acquired a 49 percent stake in the Oval Invincibles, a franchise in England's The Hundred. The acquisition was successful after a bidding war involving US-based tech entrepreneurs and CVC Capital, the private equity firm that owns Gujarat Titans in the IPL.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been looking for external investments for teams in The Hundred to increase the tournament’s financial sustainability and global reach. As part of this process, an e-auction was conducted, where Reliance Industries valued the Oval Invincibles franchise at approximately 123 million GBP. RIL will pay around 61 million GBP for its minority stake in the franchise.

Oval Invincibles is one of the most successful teams in The Hundred, having won the men’s tournament in the first two seasons. The team is currently owned by Surrey County Cricket Club, which will retain a 51% stake. The deal allows the RIL to conduct talks with Surrey for potential future ownership expansion.

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ECB conducting stake sale in phased manner

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, has entered various cricketing competitions around the world through his company, Reliance Industries. The brand has subsidiaries in multiple franchise leagues, including Mumbai Indians (IPL and WPL) MI Cape Town (SA20, South Africa), MI Emirates (ILT20, UAE), and MI New York (Major League Cricket, USA). With this latest acquisition, the Oval Invincibles become the sixth team under the management of RIL.

The ECB is conducting the sale of The Hundred franchises in a phased manner. With RIL securing the first franchise, the auction process continues with London Spirit and Welsh Fire, followed by four other teams, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Trent Rockets, and Southern Brave—scheduled for sale next week.

Additionally, GMR, co-owners of IPL's Delhi Capitals, recently acquired Hampshire County Cricket Club and are expected to bid for the Southern Brave franchise. However, the ECB has ensured a bidding process, meaning no franchise will be allocated by default.