A-Leagues set for $130 million payday with equity sale to US firm

The A-Leagues are set to receive a game-changing payday by selling a stake of the competition to an American private equity firm for $130 million, in what will be the biggest single injection of cash into Australian club football.

The Sun-Herald and Sunday Age can reveal the Australian Professional Leagues, the new owners and operators of the A-League Men and A-League Women, are in the advanced stages of talks to sell a significant stake of the competitions to US-based firm Silver Lake.

The A-League is set for a $130 million payday with an equity sale to US firm, Silver Lake.Credit: Getty Images

While a deal is yet to be finalised, several sources with knowledge of the negotiations suggest an in-principle agreement has been reached to sell a stake of about 30 per cent of the competitions for a fee understood to be about $130 million, valuing the A-Leagues at more than $430 million.

The two parties have been deep in negotiations for an equity sale for several months but are now on the cusp of finalising a deal that would give the once financially strapped competition a massive cash reserve.

Many of the competition’s major stakeholders were briefed about the proposed sale this week. The deal would also need federal government regulatory approval.

The APL declined to comment when contacted on Saturday, however sources with knowledge of the deal say Football Australia is unlikely to stand in the way of the sale, as the governing body would also benefit financially from the transaction. FA retains shares in the competition after control of the A-Leagues was transferred to the clubs in December last year.

Should the equity deal go through, it would represent the biggest commercial deal in the history of Australian club football and allow the A-Leagues to pursue lofty off-field and marketing ambitions while providing long-term financial stability.

While A-League clubs will likely receive some of the windfall of the proposed sale, most of the funds will be put towards building a new digital media platform, as well as covering the costs of the competition’s promotion, long-term operating costs, future investments and, potentially, enabling clubs to buy more marquee players.

If the sale goes through, Silver Lake will join broadcaster CBS Viacom (owners of Network Ten and Paramount+) as commercial partners with equity stakes in the A-Leagues, while the 12 clubs will remain the majority owners of the competition.

The impending partnership with the A-Leagues is not Silver Lake’s first venture in professional football with the California-based company having purchased shares in City Football Group, owners of EPL club Manchester City and A-League side Melbourne City. The group paid $US500 million in 2019 for a 10 per cent stake in CFG.

Silver Lake has also shown significant interest in investing in other sporting codes in the region, having made an offer to purchase a 12.5 per cent stake in New Zealand Rugby and commercial rights to the All Blacks in April. However, that deal stalled after New Zealand Rugby’s Players Association blocked the plan, citing concerns around the commercialisation of the team’s branding.

Silver Lake’s proposed equity purchase of the A-League follows several major commercial partnerships the APL has forged since gaining its independence from Football Australia, including a landmark broadcast deal with Ten and Paramount+ that sees the A-League shown on a major free-to-air network for the first time in the competition’s 16-year history. The A-League Men’s competition has also struck a new naming rights deal with Isuzu Utes. Sources with knowledge of the deal suggest the value of that arrangement is about $4 million a season.

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