US private equity firm, Silver Lake, has upped its stake to at least 18% in City Football Group (CFG), making it the second strongest shareholder.
The additional shares come from China Media Capital (CMC) who previously owned a 8.2% stake in the group before selling 7.24%, which was split between Manchester City owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Silver Lake.
Currently, CFG own clubs in the United States, Australia, China, Japan, Spain, Uruguay and Brazil.
Originally, Silver Lake bought a 10% in CFG back in 2019, in a deal that valued the group at US$5 billion, however, according to the Financial Times, the equity firm increased their stake to 14.5% in September this year by acquiring 4.5% from CMC.
For CMC, the deal means they will only hold a 1% stake in the group, and give up their seat on the board, however, CFG has said they will continue to provide important knowledge and expertise to the company as they remain an important partner in China.
Additionally, Silver Lake, who have mostly invested in technology companies, have started to branch into sport in recent months by acquiring Endeavour’s professional baseball development company, Diamond Baseball Holdings for US$280 million, a minority stake in New Zealand Rugby’s commercial arm for NZ$200 million (US$130.45 million) and a 33% stake in the A-Leagues.
