Chelsea owner buys stake in Trent Rockets in The Hundred

Chelsea co-owner Todd Bohley has completed the acquisition of the The Hundred franchise Trent Rockets. The US-based owner, who leads the BlueCo consortium, managed to acquire a 49 percent share of the franchise.

Trent Rockets are one of the eight teams to have won championships in the Men's competition. The team, consisting of stars like Joe Root and Rashid Khan, won their first and only title so far in 2022. Their women's team, led by Nat Sciver-Brunt, registered a best finish of third place in the same season.

The BlueCo consortium, alongside other investors Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter, and Hansjorg Wyss, managed to outbid three other bidders, with one of them believed to be an IPL franchise.

The Trent Bridge-based franchise has been valued at £79 million, with Bohley spending £39 million for minority shares. This guarantees Bohely the ownership of the men's as well as the women's franchises.

Bohely is currently the principal owner of the Premier League club Chelsea. The American shelled out £4.25 billion and took over from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. He also co-owns Strasbourg in Ligue 1 (France) and LA Dodgers in the MLB.

With this, seven out of eight franchises in The Hundred have been sold to foreign investors. It is believed that Southern Brave will be up for grabs in the auction come Wednesday with the GMR group, owners of Hampshire County, being the strong favorites.

The winning bidder will own 100% of the shares, contrary to the minority shares owned by the other seven franchises.

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RIL recently completed the acquisition of Oval Invincibles

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) managed to acquire a 49 percent stake in the two-time Hundred champions Oval Invincibles. This acquisition means the group now owns teams in leagues in the USA, the UAE, South Africa and India.

London Spirit, who play in Lords, was acquired by a group of investors from Silicon Valley for a sum of £144 million. Meanwhile, Cardiff-based franchise Welsh Fire was acquired for £35 million by the owners of the Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Washington Freedom.