The Hundred sale is entering its endgame, with stakes in four of the franchises to be sold this week, and the remaining four next week.

English cricket is looking to raise hundreds of millions of pounds by selling stakes in each of the eight men’s and women’s teams in the divisive short-form competition that will enter its fifth season this summer.

A months-long process now reaches its third and final stage, with potential investors to make final offers to the England and Wales Cricket Board and each team’s host venue in an auction process. Here is everything you need to know.

What is for sale?

The ECB will sell 49 per cent of each Hundred franchise, and hand the remaining 51 per cent to the host county to keep or sell. So, up for sale is between 49 per cent and 100 per cent of each team.

How will the sale work?

Each host venue has taken at least two potential investors into the final round and some as many as four. In the case of counties with two potential options in the final round, the investors will table a final, binding bid. The highest wins.

Those hosts who have taken more than two potential investors through will see an auction between the three or four interested parties. Eventually, the highest bid will win. Each bid will be binding.

The introduction of an auction is a late change. Previously, all teams were expected to be sold to best and final sealed bids, with the highest winning.

In what order will the teams be sold, and why?

The order the franchises will be sold in has been a matter of much intrigue among host venues in recent weeks. The New York-based Raine Group is one of the ECB’s advisers on the sale, and has come up with the batting order, taking into account which teams have duplicate investors, and an attempt to maximise value.

On Thursday, Oval Invincibles will be the first team to be sold, followed by Birmingham Phoenix. On Friday, a stake in London Spirit will be sold, then Cardiff-based Welsh Fire.

There will be a break over the weekend, before the remaining teams are sold next week.

The order is expected to be: Manchester Originals, then Headingley-based Northern Superchargers, then Trent Rockets of Nottingham.

The final sale will be of Southern Brave, who are in a unique position because their host county, Hampshire, are already privately owned, by the GMR group, co-owner of IPL team Delhi Capitals. It is expected that GMR will pick up the ECB’s 49 pert cent share, thus taking full control of Southern Brave.

Which investors are understood to be bidding for which teams?

Oval Invincibles

Surrey have been clear that they want to keep hold of their 51 per cent, and retain control of cricketing operations and the name of the team. Bidding for the Invincibles are the Ambanis, Asia’s richest family who own Mumbai Indians, and a Silicon Valley consortium that includes Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO), Egon Durban (Silver Lake CEO) and is led by Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto. Private investment firm CVC has also shown strong interest.

Birmingham Phoenix

Warwickshire have also preferred to keep their 51 per cent, and run the cricket. Knighthead Capital, which owns Birmingham City alongside former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, is the favourite, but there has also been strong interest from CVC and the owners of Aston Villa.

London Spirit

The owners of Spirit will partner with Marylebone Cricket Club, which held a members vote to confirm its involvement in the process. The Lord’s factor means Spirit are expected to fetch the highest offers.

MCC is understood to have overlooked the Ambanis, but has one IPL team still in the running, Lucknow Super Giants and their owner, Sanjiv Goenka. Also in the mix are the Silicon Valley consortium Cain International – led by Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein and backed by the club’s joint-owner Todd Boehly – and Lancer Capital, for whom Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer serves as chairman (Lancer own Desert Vipers in the UAE’s ILT20).

Welsh Fire

Glamorgan have declared that they will also only be selling 49 per cent. Among those interested are the owner of Major League Cricket’s Washington Freedom, Sanjay Govil, and Capri International, which owns UP Warriorz in India’s Women’s Premier League.

Manchester Originals

Lancashire have aimed for an IPL or established franchise cricket partner, and have Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants in the mix. Originals are expected to fetch the third-highest price, after the London teams.

Northern Superchargers

Yorkshire are interested in selling a good chunk – and perhaps all – of their 51 per cent in order to pay off debts and invest in infrastructure, making them an attractive option for an IPL team looking for full control. Sunrisers Hyderabad are among those interested. So were Chennai Super Kings, although some insiders believe they have withdrawn from the process following disagreements with the ECB over the participation agreement.

Trent Rockets

Rockets are also thought to be prepared to sell some of their share, and are looking to the IPL. Sunrisers and Washington Freedom are in the shake-up there, too.

Southern Brave

Overwhelmingly expected to sell to GMR, which already owns Hampshire.

How much will be raised, and where will the money go?

The ECB say they initially set a private benchmark of £350 million for 100 per cent of all teams. After the first round of bidding, in October, Telegraph Sport reported that 100 per cent of the eight teams had been valued at more than £650 million. Insiders now believe that anything less than £500 million as a final figure – ie all eight sets of 49 per cent, plus some of the hosts’ shares – would represent a disappointment.

So the number will be striking, but some critics of the ECB believe a simpler process could have raised even more.

As for dividing the proceeds...

The proceeds of the 49 per cent sold would be split as follows:

• the first 10 per cent to the recreational game, with the rest shared by the counties

• of the counties’ share, the first £275 million shared 19 ways (between the 18 first-class counties and MCC)

• the next £150 million shared between the 11 non-hosts

• all proceeds above £425 million shared 19 ways once more

The proceeds of the 51 per cent would be split as follows:

• the first 10 per cent to the recreational game

• the next 80 per cent to the host county

• the final 10 per cent split by the other 17 counties and MCC

What happens next?

The winning bidders and the host counties will iron out the details of their deals, with some of the teams possibly changing names and colours.

For 2025 – which the ECB is calling a “transitional season” – the Hundred is likely to look largely the same as the previous season, before major change in 2026, when the new owners will have their feet under the table.