The parent company of Premier League champions Manchester City has been given a global record sports valuation of £3.73 billion after US equity firm Silver Lake acquired just over 10 per cent of the company on Wednesday.
California-based Silver Lake has moved into entertainment in recent years after being primarily known for investing in technology companies such as Alibaba, Dell and Skype.CFG chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement the investment would help the company grow. Egon Durban, Silver Lake’s managing director, said investing in CFG was exciting as they were showing the way for others in innovative ways of how to market football whilst preserving the history of the clubs.
Earlier this year Joe Tsai, co-founder of China’s online giant Alibaba, bought a controlling share in the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, which gave it a $2.35 billion valuation, the highest for a US sports team.