There is an old tale that says that it is relatively easy to take out £1m by being the owner of a football club. All you have to do is first put in £2m.
According to Forbes’s 2022 study of the world’s most valuable football clubs, the Spanish champions reclaimed their No.1 spot with a $5.1bn (£4bn) valuation. This is 7% more than last year and puts “Los Blancos” ahead of FC Barcelona, Manchester United, and Liverpool.
The other side of this equation is the European teams that are several rungs down, such as those teams in Serie C and Serie D. This is where team valuations are in the millions and affordable for many successful football aficionados to participate. MergersCorp International was the Advisor in a transaction that benefited both the Serie C club and the American investor.
European football has always been desperate for cash, but this became even more severe due to the pandemic, which forced crowds away from stadiums and left some of the continent’s biggest and most successful clubs with massive debts.
There is now an opportunity to purchase outright or to buy a piece of a club at a reasonable valuation. One opportunity currently available is the ability to purchase a club that made the playoff to Serie B but did not win and is still in Serie C.
In addition to the thrills of the crowd, publicity, branding, and connections, this type of investment can lead to a significant return on investment for the buyer.
An extreme example of this is AC Milan: “Under the right ownership, tarnished brands can be quickly turned into back into gems. Consider AC Milan. The Italian side was in financial ruins with negative equity of $37 million when Elliott Management took them over after its owner defaulted on a loan payment in 2018. Elliott invested hundreds of millions of capital into AC Milan, eliminated almost all of the team’s debt, lowered player spending relative to revenue and the team ended fiscal 2021 with positive equity of $70 million. At the same time, AC Milan improved on the pitch. Last May the team qualified for the Champions League for the first time in seven years and this season captured its first Serie A title in 11 years. The investment firm may soon sell AC Milan for in excess of $1.1 billion.” (NBC Sports)
If you have an interest in learning more we have teams available for sale in many countries and many price points. If you own a team and are seeking to sell or bring in a partner we have many investors looking for the right team to work with.
Please contact: ed@mergerscorp.us
