Lancashire have secured the IPL partner they wanted to run Manchester Originals as a joint venture, with Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group submitting the highest bid for a 49% stake in the Hundred franchise on Monday.
The two parties will now enter into an eight-week period of exclusivity in which they will discuss the exact terms of the deal. Lancashire have previously suggested that they are open to a discussion about selling some of their 51% stake in the Originals if the price is high enough that it enables them to pay down a significant proportion of their bank debt.
Goenka, the chairman and founder of business conglomerate RPSG Group, paid INR 7090 crore (£680m approx. at the time) to buy the Lucknow IPL franchise in 2021. He bought the Durban franchise in the SA20 the following year, and previously owned Rising Pune Supergiant. RPSG were involved in the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons, while Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended.
The deal makes RPSG Group the second IPL owners to buy a stake in a Hundred team, after Reliance. Sun Group, the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, are understood to be interested in both Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets, while GMR Group, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, are widely expected to secure a stake in Southern Brave, having bought host county Hampshire outright last year.
