LONDON: The owners of the Delhi Capitals are eyeing a £120 million ($153 million) deal to buy Hampshire County Cricket Club in a move which would see them become the first overseas franchise to own an English first-class county, according to media reports.
The BBC said Friday the GMR Group, the co-owners of the Indian Premier League franchise, were in “advanced” talks with south coast side Hampshire.
Some UK national press reports suggested the deal had already been concluded but BBC Radio Solent said it understood no contract has yet been signed, although Hampshire were close to reaching an agreement with the group.
But any purchase of Hampshire by GMR must be ratified by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The Daily Telegraph reported the proposed deal could see GMR also take a 51 percent stake in the Southern Brave, a team in English domestic cricket´s controversial Hundred competition that are headquartered at Hampshire´s Rose Bowl headquarters. That would potentially leave GMR free to completed a 100 percent takeover of the Brave when the ECB sell their 49 percent share of 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 members-owned club. Instead, its majority shareholder is businessman Rod Bransgrove -- who took over in 2000 when the club was on the brink of bankruptcy.