Todd Boehly’s Cain International has successfully bid £40m for a 49% stake in Trent Rockets, adding the Chelsea co-owner to the list of investors as part of the sale of Hundred franchises.
The Nottinghamshire-based team earned a full valuation of £79m by the real estate investment firm, co‑founded by Boehly and run by Jonathan Goldstein, a director at Chelsea.
Cain International had previously been in competition for a stake in London Spirit, the Lord’s‑based team, which was secured by a Silicon Valley consortium and earned a full valuation of £295m, the highest in the process. With stakes in seven sides sold, the Hampshire-based Southern Brave remain the only team still up for grabs.
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Boehly led a consortium that purchased Chelsea in 2022 in a £4.25bn deal, with the US businessman named subsequently as the club’s chair. His reign has been controversial; exorbitant spending on players has coincided with four full‑time managers for the men’s side. Boehly’s influence in sport includes stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, LA Lakers and LA Sparks.
Cain International’s entry into the sales process comes after Indian Premier League franchise owners extended their involvement in the tournament last week. RPSG Group, which owns Lucknow Super Giants, secured a stake in Manchester Originals before Sun Group, which owns Sunrisers Hyderabad, acquired full ownership of Northern Superchargers, based at Headingley. Yorkshire remain the only host county in the process to have agreed the sale of their full 51% stake, helping the club address their financial turmoil.
Reliance, the owner of Mumbai Indians, successfully bid for a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles earlier in the process. “We said at the outset that we wanted the best partner to ensure that Surrey continue to lead the way in English cricket and in Mumbai Indians that is what we have got,” the Surrey chair, Oli Slipper, said on Monday.
“Beyond cricket, the huge success of [Reliance Industries Limited’s] global business will help Surrey to thrive off the field, too. I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Mrs Nita Ambani, Akash and his team as our new partners.”
GMR Group, the co-owner of Delhi Capitals, purchased a majority stake in Hampshire last year and is poised to bid for the Brave. The agreement of stakes for the Hundred teams has led to exclusivity periods before deals are finalised. The combined valuation of the seven teams to have gone under the hammer is more than £850m.
