The Sun Group, which owns SRH in the IPL and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20, has expressed interest in the race and made Yorkshire an offer of £50 million, which is double what the Royals first proposed. Meanwhile, two more corporate teams have entered the fray. However, as Yorkshire is still in negotiations with other interested parties, no contract has been finalised.
The RR came very close to securing Yorkshire’s ownership in 2023 with a £25 million proposal.
That would have taken care of the county club’s financial difficulties, which have been ongoing. But when Colin Greaves took back control as chair in 2024, the agreement fell apart. He asked for private investors after taking back his position, which piqued the interest of the 2008 IPL winners once more.
Once more, they offered a bargain, but this time they would make the investment directly through borrowing. It means the club will never be able to pay off its £15 million debt because they will always owe the amount Royals borrowed. Yorkshire declined the offer because they did not want the debt to be replaced with a new one. Still, the team is in negotiations to purchase the club, so they haven’t given up.
The Goenka group is one of them; they control the SA20’s Durban Super Giants and the IPL’s Lucknow Super Giants. They haven’t made a proposal, according to Wisden, because the negotiations remain ongoing. Although the GMR group, who also owns Delhi Capitals, made an offer of £120 million to acquire Hampshire, they had expressed interest in doing so earlier.
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In the meanwhile, in addition to the team, Headingley Cricket Ground will be owned by the corporate entity that acquires Yorkshire. In the current year, a deal is anticipated to close because a number of Indian investors have expressed interest in purchasing The Hundred franchises and county clubs. They have been invited to purchase shares in The Hundred by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and negotiations are currently in progress.
India
