Manchester City group worth $4.8 billion after Silver Lake buy 10 percent
The owner of English Premier League champions Manchester City has sold a $500 million stake to private equity firm Silver Lake, valuing Abu Dhabi-controlled City Football Group (CFG) at $4.8 billion.
The Financial Times were first to report the deal on Wednesday.
Silver Lake will buy just over 10% of CFG, which owns Manchester City andsix other football clubs worldwide, including New York City FC in MLS and Melbourne City in the Australian A-League.
"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.
The deal was signed on Saturday by Al Mubarak and Silver Lake managing partner Egon Durban, according to the FT. The report added that Abu Dhabi aims to retain its majority ownership of CFG.
The U.S. private equity firm aims to hold its stake for about 10 years but could also seek to cash out through an initial public offering or selling to another private investor, FT reported. Silver Lake had also approached other European and English clubs, including City's Premier League rivals Chelsea.
Man City drew in record revenue of 535.2 million in a fifth consecutive year of profitability in 2018-19, marking their 11th straight year of revenue growth under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi royal family. The club won an unprecedented domestic treble last season.
