By Matt Hughes Bidding in the first round of the Hundred auction closes today with the ECB confident that the eight franchises will attract between 60 and 80 bids. City AM has been told that many of the bidders have put in offers for several Hundred franchises however, which the ECB are encouraging in an attempt to inject greater competition, so the number of investment groups actively involved in the process will be far lower. The ECB’s projections are based on the fact that around 100 interested parties requested access to their data room after the tender documents were issued last month, al…