Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural Indian Premier League champions, are on the heels of expanding their footprint in English county cricket after having teams in the Caribbean Premier League and SA20. The Royals, whose majority of the ownership is based in the UK, are set to take over the iconic Yorkshire County Cricket Club, which is in crisis mode currently.
As per a DailyMail report, the Royals have offered Yorkshire £25 million (INR 259.8 crore approx.) to take over the full control of operations at Headingley making Yorkshire the first county cricket club to be owned by an overseas franchise. The report stated that the Yorkshire were considering selling the club to former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley in order to pay off former owner Colin Graves' £15 million debt.
The proposals Yorkshire got till the last week including one from an IPL franchise and a Saudi Arabian Prince would still have the ownership in their hands but Rajasthan Royals are seeking full control. As part of their offer, they would provide a convertible loan note to Yorkshire to pay off Graves' debt. That loan will be converted into equity in the future.
The report stated that Rajasthan Royals are looking for a majority shareholding and want to bring in their own leadership to run the club. Royals' call could have repercussions on the Director of Cricket Darren Gough and coach Ottis Gibson for the current club.
The offer is still in the initial stages as Yorkshire will put it before the board later this month and then it would be out before the members, followed by voting on whether to accept the offer or not.
