Lancashire complete 70% sale of Manchester Originals to Lucknow Super Giants

The Observer has learned that contracts sealing Lucknow’s £80 million investment in the Originals were signed during the morning session of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford.

The deal was finalised earlier this week but Lucknow's parent company, RSPG, are understood to have requested that contracts be signed today, as it marks the start of two-day religious festival Hariyali Amavasya, which is dedicated to celebrating the Hindu God Lord Shiva.

Amavasya is regarded as a lucky day for Hindus, with Lucknow's owners viewing the festival as an auspicious time to begin their ownership of the Originals.

Five of the other seven Hundred franchises are also understood to have signed or be close to signing contracts with new investors following a remarkable auction process conducted last winter, which is projected to raise £520 million for English cricket.

Birmingham City’s owners, Knighthead Capital, have completed their £40 million acquisition of 49% of Birmingham Phoenix, while Delhi Capitals’ owners, GMR Group, have signed off their 100%  purchase of the Southern Brave franchise for around £98 million.

The sales of London Spirit, Northern Superchargers and Welsh Fire are expected to be completed later this week. The negotiations over new investment in Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets, from the Ambani family and a group involving Chelsea owner Todd Boehly respectively, are proving more complex, and are unlikely to be completed before the start of this year's competition on 5 August.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had been hoping to announce the completion of all eight franchise sales and the delivery of over £500 million to the sport next week to launch this summer’s Hundred, but that may not be possible. Lancashire declined to comment when contacted by The Observer.

The Originals are set to be renamed Manchester Super Giants next year, as they will join an RSPG group which features Lucknow in the Indian Premier League and the Durban Super Giants in South Africa’s SA20 league.

After winning the auction in February, Shashwat Goenka, the vice-chairman of RPSG, said their ambitions for the Hundred franchise were to rival Premier League giants Manchester United and Manchester City.

“We are not football, we are cricket,” Goenka said. “We want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two sports teams in Manchester.”

Photograph by Alex Davidson/Getty Images