Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have reportedly been beaten to the acquisition of a team in England’s The Hundred franchise league by Chelsea Football Club co-owner Todd Boehly. Real estate firm Cain International – which was co-founded by Boehly and Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein – have acquired a 49 per cent stake of The Hundred side Trent Rockets. As per a report, Trent Rockets was acquired by Boehly and co. for a fee of around 39 million Great British Pounds (approx. Rs 420 crore). A Cricbuzz report added that the franchise’s valuation was GBP 79 million. The report also states that Indian investor Amit Jain was in the running in conjunction with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, KKR and Amit Jain were beaten to the stake by Cain International, who were earlier in the race for the acquisition of fellow Hundred side London Spirit.
KKR are owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, a conglomerate established by actor Shah Rukh Khan, as well as by businessman Jay Mehta and actor Juhi Chawla.
Had KKR won the bid for Trent Rockets, it would’ve added to the likes of KKR, Trinbago Knight Riders, LA Knight Riders and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders under the same ownership.
The Hundred has already seen IPL ownership take over two of the franchises. Mumbai Indians’ owners, Reliance Industries, bought a 49 per cent stake in Oval Invincibles with a valuation reported at around 60 million GBP. Lucknow Super Giants owners RPSG Group bought a similar stake in Manchester Originals, whose valuation is reported at around 116 million GBP.
Delhi Capitals co-owners GMR Group are also likely to acquire a stake in Southern Brave, the report states.
However, KKR will not be joining them, as it stands.
Cain International will become one of four non-IPL owners with stakes in a Hundred team.
Based in Nottingham, Trent Rockets represent the counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The men’s team of Trent Rockets won The Hundred tournament in 2022, while also finishing third the year before. The women’s team have a best finish of third, also in 2022.
The Rockets featured some well known cricket stars such as Joe Root, Alex Hales and Rovman Powell in the 2024 season. The likes of Ashleigh Gardner and Nat Sciver-Brunt star for the women’s team.
The investment further extends Boehly’s empire in the world of sports. The 51-year-old American billionaire led a consortium named BlueCo that took over Chelsea in 2022 from Ukrainian businessman Roman Abramovich. BlueCo have since also taken over French Ligue 1 side RC Strasbourg.
Chelsea sit fourth in the ongoing 2024-25 Premier League season, while Strasbourg are ninth in Ligue 1.
Boehly also co-owns Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Dodgers.
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