September 16 – Private equity group Silver Lake has become the second-largest shareholder in City Football Group (CFG), upping their stake to 14.5%.
The Silicon Valley-based firm acquired an additional 4.1% in CFG, the multi-club ownership (MCO) group that includes English champions Manchester City, from China Media Capital, taking their total holding, reported The Financial Times. China Media Capital will retain 8.2% of CFG.
The move underscores the confidence the tech investor has in the value of the football market and sports in general. CFG is the biggest MCO-structure in football with clubs in its portfolio spanning from Australia to Uruguay.
No value was given for the share acquisition.
In 2019, Silver Lake acquired a 10 per cent stake in CFG for $500 million, valuing the business at $4.8 billion. Last June, Silver Lake invested $200 million in the commercial rights of Rugby Union’s New Zealand All Blacks.
Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour controls CFG through Abu Dhabi-based Newton Investment and Development. CFG’s Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chairman of Manchester City, is the chief executive of Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investment fund that took a stake in Silver Lake in 2020, underlining and reinforcing the ties between Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi.
In 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group acquired a majority stake in Manchester City for 185 million euros from previous owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
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