Manchester City have effectively been named the most valuable football club in the world, after their holding company City Football Group (CFG) was valued at over £3BILLION.
CFG announced on Wednesday morning – the day after City’s dull Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk – that they had received a £389million ($500m) investment from American private equity firm Silver Lake.
The deal gives Silver Lake a stake of around 10 per cent of CFG and values the Abu Dhabi-owned group at £3.73billion ($4.8bn).
The City Football Group has a stake in seven clubs across the world, with Manchester City its ‘flagship club’.
The other sides in their portfolio are MLS outfit New York City FC, Australian side Melbourne City FC, LaLiga club Girona, Yokohama F. Marinos of Japan, Uruguayan club Club Atlético Torque and Chinese side Sichuan Jiuniu F.C.
The Financial Times writes that the deal breaks a record in sports valuations, with CFG now above $2.8bn-valued Manchester United and the Chinese group Alibaba, who bought a controlling share in NBA team Brooklyn Nets earlier this year team this year at valuation of $2.35bn) – the highest in US sports.
CFG chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “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.”
California-based Silver Lake made its name investing in technology companies, including Dell and Skype, but in recent years has switched its focus to sport and entertainment by buying a stake in UFC.
Egon Durban, managing director of Silver Lake, will now represent the technology investors on the CFG board.
He said of the partnership: “We are excited to invest in CFG, which is redefining football globally and in doing so has successfully built an impressive global platform of marquee football clubs across five continents.
“We greatly respect CFG’s stewardship of more than a century of football tradition and the strong global fanbases of its clubs.
“We are excited to partner with the board and CFG’s world-class management team to help drive the next phase of CFG’s growth in the fast-growing premium sports and entertainment content market.”
