The new owners of French football team Olympique Lyonnais plan to float their multi-club business in the US this year via a blank cheque company, targeting a $1.2bn valuation in what would be a first for the football industry.
Eagle Football Holdings, a London-based company controlled by US businessman John Textor, completed the purchase of Lyon on December 19 in a deal valuing the Ligue 1 club at €800mn. The group also owns Brazilian club Botafogo, Belgian second tier club RWD Molenbeek, and a 40 per cent stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Ares Management provided lending for the Lyon takeover. Iconic Sports Management, an investment group composed of US hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan, former banker Alexander Knaster, former Goldman Sachs trader Edward Eisler, and London-based advisory firm Tifosy Capital, also made a $75mn equity investment in Eagle Football to help fund the purchase.
Iconic has existing ties to sport. Dinan is co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, while Knaster controls Italian football team Pisa.
As part of the deal with Iconic, agreements have been put in place for a potential merger between Eagle Football and the investment group’s NY-listed blank-cheque company, Iconic Sports Acquisition Corp, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those agreements value Eagle Football at about $1.2bn, the filings say, although there is no guarantee the transaction will take place.
The aim is to take Eagle Football public this year, according to one person familiar with the matter, but timing will be determined by market conditions.
Iconic Sport declined to comment. Eagle Football Holdings did not respond.
Special purpose acquisition companies — often referred to as blank-cheque companies — are publicly traded vehicles that raise cash with the intent to buy a private company.
Spacs were one of the hottest sectors in global markets in 2020 and 2021, a period when 952 blank cheque companies went public, according to data from Refinitiv, raising almost $250bn. However, the market shrank rapidly last year, with just 171 new listings generating a total of $16.2bn. The pace of acquisitions made by listed spacs has also slowed markedly.
Multi-club ownership — where a single investor or company buys into a number of football clubs in different countries — has become increasingly common in recent years.
The trend has coincided with a flood of US investor interest in European football, as wealthy individuals and institutional capital look to tap into the world’s most popular sport. There are now more than 70 multi-club groups, according to Deloitte.
A successful listing would make Eagle Football the first such group to go public.
Iconic Sports’ Spac raised $345mn when it listed in October 2021. The company said at the time it would seek “iconic businesses, including sports franchises, which will complement our expertise in the sports data, media and technology sectors, benefit from our strategic and hands-on operational leadership, and where we believe there are opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns”.
The Lyon takeover was originally agreed in June but was delayed after US billionaire Bill Foley, who had been lined up to provide financing, opted instead to buy Premier League club Bournemouth. Foley has since launched his own multi-club football project, buying a stake in French side Lorient last week.