PARIS: Private equity firm Silver Lake has agreed to make a US$500 million equity investment into the owners of English soccer champions Manchester City, valuing the Premier League club's owner at US$4.8 billion.
Silver Lake will buy just over 10per cent of Abu Dhabi-controlled City Football Group , which owns Manchester City, the companies said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report in the Financial Times.Europe's top soccer clubs have drawn in big money from some of the world's richest oligarchs over the last decade, as the game attracts more and more fans in lucrative markets such as Asia, the United States and the Middle East.
"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," City Football Group chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.City Football Group said none of its existing shareholders were selling equity stakes as part of the Silver Lake deal.
It added that Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, would remain the majority CFG shareholder with a stake of around 77per cent. Earlier this month, Man City's annual report showed it had drawn in record revenue of 535.2 million pounds in a fifth consecutive year of profitability over 2018-19.