Dubai: Manchester City owner City Football Group agreed to sell a more than 10 per cent stake to Silver Lake a private equity investor in the soccer team for about $500 million. The deal values City Football Group at US$4.8B post-investment.
CFG is the owner of football clubs and related businesses, including Premier League Champions Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China. The company has more than 2,000 employees in 12 locations globally, overseeing more than 1,500 players and 2,500 games annually, and delivering a unique global platform to its commercial partners.
The proceeds from the investment will be used by City Football Group to fund international business growth opportunities and develop further CFG technology and infrastructure assets.
No existing CFG shareholders are selling equity as a result of this primary capital investment. Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, remains the majority CFG shareholder (c.77%). In addition, c.12% of CFG equity remains held by a consortium of Chinese institutional investors led by China’s leading media and entertainment conglomerate CMC Inc.
Pursuant to the agreement, the Board of the City Football Group Holding Company will increase from eight to nine members. Mr. Egon Durban, a Managing Partner and Managing Director of Silver Lake, will represent Silver Lake as the ninth CFG board member.
“Silver Lake is a global leader in technology investing, and we are delighted by both the validation that their investment in CFG represents, and the opportunities for further growth that their partnership brings. We and Silver Lake share the strong belief in the opportunities being presented by the convergence of entertainment, sports and technology and the resulting ability for CFG to generate long-term growth and new revenue streams globally,” said Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of City Football Group.
