Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has agreed to buy a 49% share in Hundred franchise Trent Rockets.

Cain International, founded by American Boehly and British businessman Jonathan Goldstein, will pay just under £40m for the stake in the Rockets, valuing the entire franchise at £79m.

Nottinghamshire, hosts of the Rockets at their Trent Bridge ground, will retain control of the other 51%.

Cain, a real estate investment company, was in the running for a stake in London Spirit before a 49% share in the Lord’s team was sold to a Silicon Valley consortium for £145m.

The sale of the Rockets takes total sales of stakes in seven Hundred teams to date to more than £500m.

The entire value of the seven Hundred franchises comes to around £820m.

Southern Brave will become the eighth and final franchise sold later this week. They are likely to go to the co-owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) team Delhi Capitals after their buyout of hosts Hampshire.

Boehly led a consortium that bought Premier League club Chelsea for £4.25bn in May 2022 and became chairman at Stamford Bridge. Goldstein is also on the club’s board.

Boehly is a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and has stakes in about a dozen other sports-related businesses through his conglomerate Eldridge Industries.