CVC Capital Partners is bidding for a stake in the Birmingham Phoenix Hundred cricket franchise in a move which throws the spotlight on its relationship with the chairman of its host county.
Sky News has learnt that CVC is among the parties shortlisted to acquire the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix, which is based at Edgbaston, the home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
Warwickshire is chaired by Mark McCafferty, the former chief executive of Premiership Rugby who served during the initial phase of CVC’s ownership of a minority stake in the competition.
He subsequently became an advisor to the private equity firm, which over the last 20 years has been one of the world’s most prolific investors in elite sport.
Among CVC’s investments is a stake in the Gujarat Titans Indian Premier League team, which recent reports suggested was about to be sold.
The Amsterdam-listed buyout firm has been shortlisted for three of the eight Hundred franchises, including the Oval Invincibles, Sky News revealed last month.
Sources said that Mr McCafferty only advised CVC on its rugby union investments and was not connected to its other sporting interests.
He is understood to have formally declared a potential conflict of interest to the ECB and Warwickshire boards prior to the Hundred sale process kicking off.
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One person close to the process said that if CVC was being formally considered by the Warwickshire board during the auction, Mr McCafferty would not participate in the discussion or decision-making process.
Under the ECB’s plans, it intends to sell its 49% holding in each of the eight teams with the counties left to decide whether they wish to offload any of their 51% stakes.
The process is expected to raise hundreds of millions of pounds, with the proceeds distributed between the host and non-host counties and across the grassroots game.
Among the other bidders are a large number of IPL team-owners and investors, the Chelsea Football Club co-owner Todd Boehly, and the Glazer family, which continues to own a big stake in Manchester United FC.
The Lords-based London Spirit franchise is expected to command the highest price of the eight teams being auctioned, with one of Chelsea FC’s lenders, Ares Management, plotting the purchase of a stake in the Oval Invincibles.
In total, roughly 35 bids are said to have been shortlisted for the eight teams, with the process expected to move forward before the end of the year.
Those 35 proposals are, in turn, said to have come from 15 separate investor groups.
The eight host venues also play home to teams including the Northern Superchargers, Manchester Originals and Southern Brave.
A bigger-than-expected windfall from the process could offer a financial lifeline to a number of cash-strapped counties, with part of the proceeds likely to be used to pay down debt.
Concerns have been raised, however, that windfalls from the Hundred auction will not deliver a meaningful improvement in counties’ long-term financial sustainability.
The outcome of the Hundred auction is also likely to intensify other searching questions about the future of cricket, as the Test format of the game struggles for international commercial relevance against shorter-length competition.
The Hundred auction is being handled by bankers at Raine Group.
CVC and Mr McCafferty declined to comment.