LONDON: Southampton Football Club on Tuesday confirmed that Sport Republic, which is backed by Serbian billionaire Dragan Solak, has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Premier League club.
The sale to Solak’s London-headquartered investment firm Sport Republic values The Saints at about £205 million ($278 million), including debt, Bloomberg reports, quoting estimates from Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in soccer finance at the University of Liverpool.
Sport Republic has purchased the 80% shareholding of the club held by Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng’s Lander Sports Investment.
For some context, in 2017, Katharina Liebherr, daughter of Markus Liebherr (the businessman who bought The Saints in 2009), had sold an 80% stake in the club for £210 million to Lander Sports, while retaining a minority shareholding.
In its takeover announcement, Sport Republic has stated it will continue to work in partnership with Ms Liebherr, who retains her stake in the club.
Martin Semmens, CEO of Southampton FC, said: “Over the last two years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward. Today we have found the perfect solution for our club.
“Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports. That combination is very hard to find, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement that secures our short and long-term future.
“We are grateful for the support of Mr Gao and Katharina that allowed us to take our time, turn away the wrong options and ultimately find the right partner for the future of this great club, its fans, staff and the people of Southampton.
“Today we welcome a new beginning with a new ownership group. We have found partners with ambition for the future, but with a clear understanding of what Southampton stands for and the direction we must go in now. The strategy is to push forward with the plans we have had in place over the last two years, but with their support we can now do this with a renewed focus and speed. Continuity, stability, and clarity of the way forward are equally as important as the new initiatives and ideas we can now bring to the club.
“Sport Republic is being built to provide a network of people, clubs, and technology that allows the clubs within it to grow every day and gain the advantages you need to be successful. As a club, we have never wanted to buy success, but to earn it. Sport Republic gives us the power to improve our operations at every level, helping us to reach for the success our staff work so hard for, and our fans crave.
“Everyone at Southampton welcomes Dragan, Henrik, Rasmus and the people within Sport Republic to our great club. We searched the world for good people with the ambition and resources to lead us into the next era and I am happy to confirm we have found them. We can’t wait to get started and be part of the future of Sport Republic.”
Commenting on the agreement, Šolak said: “My partners and I have experience in long-term investments in the sports and entertainment industry and Sport Republic has been founded to combine this expertise and deliver something unique to the market. Southampton has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organisation. It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football and a dedicated fan base. We are delighted to be able to complete this acquisition as a first step towards execution of our investment strategy. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organisation we plan to build.”
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