LSG owner beats another IPL franchise to buy stakes in Manchester Originals ahead of The Hundred 2025: Reports

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka, won the race against another Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owner to acquire a 49 percent stake in the Manchester Originals franchise of The Hundred competition. The head of the RPSG group, who also owns a franchise in the SA20 League, had also gone all out for the London Spirit franchise, before bowing out of contention.

According to a report by Cricbuzz, it is yet to be known which IPL franchise LSG and Co. ended up outbidding through the e-auction process, but it is understood that more than two parties were interested in the acquisition. The winning bid was 107 million pounds, far less than what the London Spirit was sold for. A consortium of US-based tech billionaires secured the stakes of the franchise for 195 million pounds.

"Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders were all in the initial list of interested parties who are believed to have backed out. Whether one of them has re-entered the fray is to be ascertained," the report stated.

LSG marks the second IPL franchise in a matter of days to lay its hands in The Hundred's radical globalization. Earlier, the Mumbai Indians group led by the Ambanis, had won the race to bag 49 percent stakes of the Oval Invincibles. The Delhi Capitals, through their ownership of Hampshire County, are highly likely to have a firm grip on the Southern Brave franchise along with it.

Earlier, the Washington Freedom owners from the US-based Major League Cricket (MLC) secured the Welsh Fire franchise, while the Tom Brady-backed Knighthead Capital sealed the deal for the Birmingham Phoenix.

Trent Rockets and the Northern Superchargers are still up for grabs, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad group likely to swoop in for one of those sides.

LSG group-owned Manchester Originals finished second-from-bottom in Hundred 2024

The Manchester Originals had a season to forget in 2024 after finishing seventh in the points table. The franchise were handed an early blow as skipper Jos Buttler was ruled out due to a calf injury. In his absence, Phil Salt led the side but could only record one win in the campaign.

The franchise made it to consecutive finals in the 2022 and 2023 editions but lost out the title to Trent Rockets and the Oval Invinvibles respectively.