A group of technology billionaires including the bosses of Google and Microsoft have triumphed in an auction of the Lords-based London Spirit cricket team in a deal which will set a record benchmark for the sale of a sporting franchise.
Sky News can exclusively reveal that the consortium led by Nikesh Arora, the chief executive of Palo Alto Networks, and including Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, saw off fierce competition during a live auction conducted by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Friday afternoon.
The deal dwarfs a £123m transaction struck on Thursday for the Oval Invincibles franchise by the ultra-rich Ambani family, and means the ECB will receive proceeds from London Spirit of about £145m.
That will take the total proceeds to the ECB – for distribution throughout the sport – after three of the eight franchise sales to close to £250m.
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The blockbuster price underscores the intensity of the bidding for the most prestigious name in the Hundred tournament, allied to Lords’ enormous sporting heritage.
One source said the deal represented a world record for the price it attached to London Spirit as a multiple of the asset’s five-year forward profit projections.
Other investors in the winning consortium are said to include Egon Durban, co-chief executive of Silver Lake, the west coast-based private equity backer of New Zealand Rugby and the RAC breakdown recovery service.
The other bidders in the London Spirit process were a vehicle controlled by Todd Boehly, a shareholder in Chelsea Football Club; members of the Manchester United-owning Glazer family; and RPSG Group, the owner of the Indian Premier League team Lucknow Super Giants.
RPSG Group and the tech billionaires are understood to have engaged in a bidding war for nearly three hours before the latter group won, according to insiders.
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