CVC to secure 10% La Liga stake for EUR 2.7bn

The deal values La Liga at around EUR 24.2bn and would fund structural improvements while also offsetting some of the immediate impact from Covid-19, La Liga said in a statement.

The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as Primera División in Spain and as La Liga internationally, is the top professional football division of the Spanish football league system. It counts 20 teams and its current champion is Atlético Madrid.

The sale still requires approval from the league's executive committee and clubs. CVC and LaLiga have been holding meetings with officials from member clubs to garner support for the deal, according to media reports, with the approval of high-profile teams Real Madrid and Barcelona seen as key to success.

This approval stage proved an insurmountable hurdle for CVC's previous target in the football space. The GP teamed up with Advent and FSI to invest in Italian league Serie A in a EUR 1.7bn deal, which seemingly inched closer to the finish line in November last year. However, the deal fell apart in early March, following more delays after the November offer was blocked when seven of the 20 clubs making up Serie A voiced opposition to the deal. 

Professional football clubs have been a long-standing, if infrequent, target of PE and debt fund investment in Europe. Most recently, the shareholders of Spanish football club Atlético Madrid unanimously agreed to a EUR 181m capital increase in which Ares Management took part in exchange for a 33% stake.

Oaktree Capital Management also provided EUR 275m in debt financing to Italian football club Internazionale Milano (Inter) in May. Inter is majority-owned by Chinese retail giant Suning Holding Group, which controls a stake of 68.55%, while Hong Kong-based LionRock Capital owns 31.05%.

In May last year, US-based private equity firm Redbird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in France's Toulouse Football Club; club owner Olivier Sadran retained the remaining 15%. In 2019, Silver Lake invested $500m in City Football Group, which owns football clubs and related businesses including 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.

Beyond football, CVC is no stranger to sports investments. Most recently, the GP inked a long-awaited deal to invest GBP 365m in Six Nations Rugby, the organising body of the Six Nations and Autumn International rugby tournaments. 

CVC also acquired a 27% shareholding in the Gallagher Premiership's commercial arm, Premiership Rugby, for GBP 220m in late 2018. The firm also acquired a 28% stake in Guinness Pro14 last year for approximately GBP 120m.

In May last year, CVC invested in the International Volleyball Federation (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, FIVB), the Switzerland-headquartered governing body of volleyball. The deal was reportedly valued at around USD 300m.

But the firm is perhaps most well known for its 2006 investment in Formula One, which is widely reported to have resulted in very strong returns for the GP. 

CVC closed its eighth buyout mega-fund on EUR 21.3bn last year, making it the largest European PE fund ever raised.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• CVC Capital Partners
• Spain