St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, the Caribbean Premier League franchise, has been sold to Hong Kong-based company City Sports.
No specific reason for the change in ownership was stated in the CPL release that announced it. The release quoted former owner Dr Uday Nayak as saying: "We feel we have taken the Patriots as far as we can, and it is time for us to hand it over to more experienced hands. We are delighted to have found new owners like City Sports who have a history of investing in cricket and want to take the franchise forward."
City Sports had also bought Bloem City Blazers, one of the franchises in Cricket South Africa's binned Global T20 League. It also owns own City Kaitak in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz.
The CPL release, in expanding on City Sports' operations, said: "The company is headed by Sushil Kumar and Naren Kunder who are based in Hong Kong. Mr Kumar has investments in event management, information technology, food and beverage and sports management. Mr Kunder has business interests in the garments industry, stationary and electronics."
"With a total economic impact for the Hero CPL 2018 being in excess of USD 127 million, we are looking to bring a greater economic impact to St Kitts & Nevis in 2019 and beyond," Sushil Kumar said. "We are also hoping our investment into the St Kitts & Nevis franchise is a catalyst to further investment into the country and growth of its economy."