Owners Box: Club Member Newsletter - May 2nd
Ratcliffe tables Chelsea bid as Boehly enters exclusivity, Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore & Derrick Henry make minority investments, AC Milan in takeover talks
Owners Box is FanClub Sports’ newsletter and investment community. Every other week we breakdown the recent news in sports investment, M&A, and technology
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Highlights:
Chelsea takeover race shifts as Jim Ratcliffe tables UK£4.25bn bid
DeGods Solana NFT Project to Buy Team Stake in Ice Cube’s BIG3 League
NFL star Derrick Henry among Nashville SC’s new minority owners
Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore Become Minority Owners of Seattle Kraken
NBA playoff brackets will showcase private equity's ownership stakes
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Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
Chelsea takeover race shifts as Jim Ratcliffe tables UK£4.25bn bid - Sports Pro Media - April 29th, 2022
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has tabled a last-minute UK£4.25 billion (US$5.33 billion) bid to buy English soccer giants Chelsea, putting the British billionaire right in the running to take the Stamford Bridge helm.
The Ineos boss is understood to have held talks with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck on 28th April and submitted what now represents the biggest offer for the Premier League club on Friday.
The 69-year-old explored in detail a possible bid for the Blues back in 2019, only to buy French club Nice instead.
Ratcliffe’s previous due diligence on Chelsea will expedite the process of his bid, minimising any delays in the sale process headed up by New York merchant bank the Raine Group.
DeGods Solana NFT Project to Buy Team Stake in Ice Cube’s BIG3 League - April 28th, 2022
Professional basketball league BIG3—founded by rapper and actor Ice Cube—recently announced plans to fractionalize team ownership by issuing NFTs for each of the 12 teams in its league, letting fans and investors buy in with perks aplenty.
Now we know that a popular NFT project will acquire the controlling interest in one of the teams.
Today, BIG3 announced that Solana-based NFT project DeGods has agreed to buy all 25 of the Fire-tier NFT ownership stakes in Killer 3s, one of the league’s 12 teams. Additionally, DeGods NFT holders will have access to up to 500 total “whitelist” spots to mint Killer 3s’ Gold-tier NFTs, of which there are 975 in total.
NFL star Derrick Henry among Nashville SC’s new minority owners - Sports Pro Media - April 27th, 2022
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is among the new minority owners in Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Nashville SC.
Hollywood actress and Nashville native Reese Witherspoon, as well as her husband Jim Toth, have also joined the ownership group for a franchise valued at US$460 million by Sportico.
The new investment comes as Nashville SC prepare to move into Geodis Park, their new 30,000-seater home, which will become the largest soccer-specific venue in MLS.
Sheffield United $148M Takeover Bid Under Review - Front Office Sports - April 25th, 2022
ClearTV Media CEO Henry Mauriss’ $148 million takeover bid for Sheffield United is being reviewed by the English Football League, according to The Athletic.
Mauriss’ ability to acquire Sheffield United depends on two EFL stipulations.
The American businessman must prove sources of funding and sustainability.
Any deal for the club would have to be approved by EFL owners and directors.
Sheffield United is currently owned by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who initially purchased a 50% stake in the club in 2013 for an undisclosed amount. The prince acquired the remaining stake in 2019 for $6.4 million after an arbitration battle with British real estate entrepreneur Kevin McCabe, who owned the other 50%.
Report: AC Milan in takeover talks with Investcorp - Sports Pro Media - April 19th, 2022
Bahrain-based investment manager Investcorp is in exclusive talks to buy Italian soccer giants AC Milan, according to Reuters.
The Serie A club has been controlled by Elliott Management since July 2018. Reuters reports that the sale is near to completion, adding that a potential valuation for the club would be in the region of €1 billion (US$1.08 billion), including debt.
In response to the speculation, an AC Milan spokesperson told Reuters that ‘AC Milan remains focused on improving its performance on the pitch and to develop the club’.
Marshawn Lynch, Macklemore Become Minority Owners of Seattle Kraken - Front Office Sports - April 18th, 2022
Beast Mode has returned to Seattle pro sports — but not football.
On Monday, former Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch joined rapper Macklemore as minority investors in the NHL’s Kraken.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but investments of this magnitude usually constitute 1% or less of a franchise.
In an interview, Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said that although the franchise didn’t need new investors at this time, it decided to bring on Lynch and Macklemore for their “interest in community activism through this organization.”
NBA playoff brackets will showcase private equity's ownership stakes - Pitchbook - April 12th, 2022
Long shut out of ownership stakes, private equity is gaining a bigger share of the National Basketball Association.
To prepare for the start of the NBA postseason later this week, Pitchbook gathered data to show each playoff team's ties to private equity, if applicable, as well as the primary owners of each team and team valuations.
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