Sanjiv Goenka expands sporting ventures, outbids IPL team to acquire The Hundred's Manchester Originals

Sanjiv Goenka, the head of RPSG Group

Sanjiv Goenka, the head of RPSG Group, has acquired the Manchester Originals franchise in England's The Hundred tournament. “Lancashire Cricket confirms that the RPSG Group, owners of Lucknow Super Giants, were the successful bidders during today’s auction process for the sale of a stake in Manchester Originals,” a statement from the English county said.

The acquisition was done through e-auction and as per the report in Cricbuzz there were multiple bidders in the race. The report stated that an IPL side, a tech consortium were equally interested in acquiring the Manchester Originals franchise.

The value at which the deal was finalised is not revealed. However, it is expected to be just over 100 million - precisely 107 million GBP. Goenka owns 49 percent of Originals.

Goenka already owns the Lucknow Super Giants franchise in the IPL and Durban Super Giants in SA20 league. Goenka also owns one of country's most prestigious football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG), which takes part in the Indian Super League (ISL).

As per reports, Goenka had also shown interest in London Spirit apart from the Manchester Originals. The former was sold to a consortium of the US-based tech billionaires for 195 million GBP.

Five teams -- Oval Invincibles, Welsh Fire, London Spirit, Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals -- have been sold so far, out of which two have gone to IPL owners. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited, which owns Mumbai Indians, had bought a stake in Oval Invincibles last week.

Meanwhile, three more teams -- Nottingham-based Trent Rockets, Yorkshire-owned Northern Superchargers and Hampshire's Southern Brave -- are left. As per the report in Cricbuzz, Sunrisers Hyderabad appear favourites to pick up one of the teams, while Delhi Capitals, having bought the Hampshire county, look to retain the Brave.

As reported earlier by PTI, the new owners will take control from 2026.