General Atlantic bids for Premiership Rugby - report

Kenny Wastell
15 November 2018

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General Atlantic has submitted a bid for English rugby union professional league Premiership Rugby, according to reports.

The Financial Times reported that the GP is involved in a bidding process that has also included CVC Capital Partners and Cinven, with a £275m bid by the former having been rejected. The publication also cited a person familiar with the situation who said that Cinven has since withdrawn from the auction.

It has previously been reported that the current owners of Premiership Rugby do not want to cede full control, yet it is not known whether General Atlantic's offer is for a minority or majority stake.

CVC has a track record of investing in high-profile professional sport organisations, having been part of a consortium that sold motorsport business Formula One Group to US corporate Liberty Media for $8bn in 2016.

A spokesperson for Premiership Rugby told Unquote: "We are unable to confirm or deny the identity of any companies who might have expressed interest in investing in Premiership Rugby because the process is subject to strict confidentiality." They added: "All our options were reviewed recently by the Premiership Rugby Board and we are still hoping to move to the next stage in December."

A spokesperson for General Atlantic declined to comment.