Source: AFP
The owners of Delhi Capitals are eyeing a £120 million ($153 million) deal to buy Hampshire County Cricket Club in a move that would see them become the first overseas franchise to own an English first-tier county, according to media reports information.
The BBC reported on Friday that GMR Group, the co-owners of the Indian Premier League franchise, were in “advanced” talks with the Hampshire south coast side.
Some reports in the UK national press suggested the deal had already been agreed, but BBC Radio Solent said it understood no contract had yet been signed, although Hampshire were close to agreeing a deal with the club.
However, any purchase of Hampshire by GMR must be approved by the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWC).
The Daily Telegraph reported that the proposed deal could see GMR also acquire a 51% stake in Southern Brave, a team in English domestic cricket’s controversial Hundred competition based at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl headquarters.
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That would potentially leave GMR free to complete the 100% takeover of Brave when ECB sells its 49% stake in the eight hundred franchises by the end of the year.
Unlike the majority of English cricket’s 18 first-class counties, Hampshire is no longer a member-owned club.
Instead, its majority shareholder is businessman Rod Bransgrove — who took over in 2000 when the club was on the brink of bankruptcy.
But Bransgrove, who has sunk around £15 million ($19 million) of his own money into the club, helped Hampshire move from its home of more than a hundred years, at Northlands Road in Southampton, to the Rose Bowl in edge of town.
The now 74-year-old has overseen a successful era at the club with numerous limited-overs trophies and the arrival of top overseas stars, including the late Australian great Shane Warne, who captained Hampshire.
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But in 2023 it was announced that Bransgrove would step down after 23 years as chairman.
This news came after it was revealed that Hampshire would host an Ashes Test in 2027 – one of Bransgrove’s long-held ambitions for the county.
Source: AFP
