Following the acquisition of the Hampshire County Cricket Club, the GMR Group is interested in working with the ECB to acquire the full ownership of Southern Brave, The Hundred franchise.

“We will evaluate as we go forward,” he said. “Certainly, we are happy to work with ECB. We are certainly very keen and open,” Grandhi told Espncricinfo on Monday.

GMR Group’s parent company, GGPL, will initially hold a majority of 53% stake in the Hampshire Sport & Leisure Holdings Ltd, Hampshire’s parent company, with a 100% takeover set to be completed within 24 months.

However, completing the acquisition in a phased manner doesn’t guarantee that the GMR Group will bag The Hundred franchise, based at Hampshire’s home ground, Utilita Bowl.

The ECB guidelines state that the ongoing sale of equity in The Hundred franchises will require 51% stakes to be transferred to the host counties. In the case of Hampshire, the Indian infrastructure conglomerate will have to pay a fair market value of the remaining 49% for the transfer to happen.

Hampshire’s former majority shareholder Rod Bransgrove had on Monday said that “The deal is not contingent on getting a Hundred franchise”.  Notably, in June 2023 when he proposed the idea of selling his 60% stake in the company, both parties had shown no interest in settling a deal for The Hundred’s franchise.

Grandhi also said that the opportunity to acquire the Southern Brave turned up recently. “We are looking at this opportunity holistically. The Hundred (opportunity) came only recently. Our discussions with Hampshire started nearly one-and-a-half years ago. When I heard about the opportunity I said, ‘Why not?’ The first six months went knowing each other and become comfortable. The deal happened much later.”