by Yorkshire has suspended its controversial plan to privatize its 162-year-old members’ club.
Announcing plans to demutualize the county last year, chairman Colin Graves claimed that without “swift and decisive action” Yorkshire “will be fighting for its survival”, but the Guardian has learned that the process has been suspended without the club obtaining insurance. the additional external investments it was seeking.
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Yorkshire’s priority is focused on the Hundred auctions on behalf of Northern Superchargers, which could provide an alternative route to the funding needed to pay off the Graves family’s debts, which now stand at more than £20 million.
The club is engaging with the England and Wales Cricket Board and US bank Raine Group over the imminent sale of 49% of the franchise at the Hundred auction, while planning to sell a significant portion of the remaining 51% which will be offered to him by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Yorkshire’s preference is to find an Indian partner for the Superchargers, believing it will give them access to the country’s cricketing talent and attract the large Indian community to the club’s doors. The club has reportedly attracted bids from several Indian Premier League franchises in the first two rounds of the auction and plans to name Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings as preferred bidders.
In a complicated process, the eight Hundred franchises have been asked to nominate at least two bidders in order of preference by the end of the month, with the ECB and Raine Group then taking charge of the process of matching the teams with the new co-owners. In addition to the 10 IPL franchises, several private equity firms, including CVC Capital Partners, Knighthead Capital, owner of Birmingham City, and a group of Silicon Valley investors led by Nikesh Arora, managing director of cybersecurity firm Palo , also submitted bids for Hundred Teams. Alto Networks.
The ECB hopes to reach an agreement on the sale of 49% of the eight franchises by the start of the domestic season in April, although there are fears the governing body will not get a fair value offer merchant for the Southern Brave, as host. The Hampshire venue was bought last year by GMR Group, co-owners of Delhi Capitals. The franchises would then be free to begin negotiations to sell the remaining 51%, the process is therefore likely to drag on all summer.
Yorkshire has not ruled out reviewing the demutualisation process, but sources involved have told the Guardian it could be scrapped altogether if they raise enough money from the sale of Hundred. The club has long-term debts of around £15 million to the Graves family trust, while it injected a further £5 million after returning as chairman last year to help cover the operating costs for the season.
Yorkshire held several meetings with membership groups to try to allay concerns about demutualization over the winter, and will continue to meet with supporters over the coming weeks, but a vote on the issue was initially planned for this month -this will not take place. In order to demutualise, at least 50% of Yorkshire’s 6,000 members would need to take part in a vote, with 75% voting in favour.
All but three of the first class counties – Hampshire, Durham and Northamptonshire – are owned by their members and Graves’ announcement of Yorkshire’s plan to become the fourth last May immediately sparked a backlash led by Labor MP Alex Sobel .
“I will oppose the attempt to take the club away from the members and make it a private entity, as this will be done for profit and to weaken accountability and long-term viability,” said Sobel, MP for Leeds North West. “Mr Graves has stated that he has no future ambitions to demutualise. Today, he demands that members turn the club over to unnamed private owners.
“Members in Yorkshire have received many false promises over recent months. I ask them to keep their cool and oppose demutualization at least until the Hundred franchise is awarded.
Graves wrote to Yorkshire members last May to tell them that their current status “continues to pose a barrier to attracting private funding” and that “demutualization appears essential to the future of the club”.
Yorkshire CCC declined to comment.
