by Hampshire County Cricket Club’s major shareholder is in advanced talks to sell its stake to part-owners of Indian Premier League team Delhi Capitals.
Telegraph Sport understands Rod Bransgrove is close to agreeing a deal to sell to GMR Group, which co-owns the Delhi Capitals.
The deal would be a landmark and would make Hampshire the first county to be owned by an overseas franchise.
Insiders believe the benefits of buying a county for GMR include a foothold in the English game, the chance to develop its own players, and “first mover advantage” when hundreds of franchises are put out for investment. . Among the options being examined by the ECB is to give a 50 per cent share of the Centra team – in the case of the Ageas Bowl, Southern Brave – to the host county, to be sold to investors if they wish.
According to Back From The Brink, a book about Bransgrove’s time at Hampshire published last year, the business – which includes the test match hosting Ageas Bowl, hotel, golf course and the club – was worth around £100 million he too. £60 million of debt.
Bransgrove, widely credited with saving Hampshire in his 23 years at the helm, stepped down as chairman at the end of last year, but remains the majority shareholder – owning more than 60 per cent of the shares – of the business.
Hampshire is one of three counties, along with Northamptonshire and Durham, that are not member-owned, leaving Bransgrove free to sell without fan input. It is hoped that more counties could move away from the member-owned model in the coming months at a time when the game is changing rapidly, however.
Bransgrove, who made his money in pharmaceuticals, had a transformative effect when he led Hampshire in developing the Ageas Bowl, which will host an Ashes Test for the first time in 2027. It is also scheduled to host Tests in 2029 – against India – and 2030 and, together with Old Trafford, they allowed international cricket to continue to be played during the pandemic.
It is known that he has been looking to sell his shares in the club for some time, and in an open letter to fans on his resignation last month, he wrote: “Finally, and most importantly, although I resigning, I’m resigning. without leaving. I now play an important role in ensuring that our plans for Ashes 2027 are underpinned by long-term financial security. I have promised from the outset that Hampshire Cricket will never again be threatened with insolvency and I intend to fulfill this promise before my feet shall be lifted up.”
GMR has a portfolio of cricket teams around the world. They have a 50 per cent stake in Delhi Capitals – in both the IPL and the Women’s Premier League – with another Indian conglomerate JSW Group owning the other half. GMR also owns Dubai Capitals in the UAE’s ILT20 and a stake in the Seattle Orcas in the US Major League Cricket. Pretoria Capitals – another subsidiary of the Delhi franchise – are owned by JSW in South Africa’s SA20.
The Hundred, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s controversial short-form tournament, is now almost certain to be opened up to private investment later this year and IPL franchises, including the Capitals.
Bransgrove’s successor as chairman and long-time colleague, Nick Pike, discussed a possible investment in the Hundred on Wednesday.
“There’s significant money in the game now, especially in the sub-division,” he said. “If we don’t recognize that, we’re playing with our eyes and ears closed.”
This is not the first time Hampshire has been linked with an IPL team. Between 2010 and 2013, Hampshire had a partnership with IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals which saw them play T20 cricket as Hampshire Royals. They are now Hampshire Hawks. It is owned by Manoj Badale, the British-Indian businessman who explored buying Yorkshire last year. He also owned a company, Investors In Cricket, which ran Leicestershire’s commercial arm for a period in the 2000s, shortly before the IPL changed the face of the game in 2008.
A spokesman for Hampshire said: “Hampshire Sport & Leisure Holdings Ltd has made no secret that it has been investigating a number of investment options for some time and, during these investigations, the Company has been in contact with a number of parties under conditions of confidentiality.
“While it is true that the Company is fully engaged in some minor investment negotiations, the nature and content of any such investigations are subject to formal Non-Disclosure Agreements which the Company is bound to observe.
“To date, we have not concluded any formal binding agreements apart from NDA. Again, therefore, we cannot comment further on the status of our negotiations until we have something to disclose.”
Bransgrove has also been contacted for comment.
