Sixth Street Partners Adds to Media Rights Deal With FC Barcelona Soccer Club
The firm is committing an additional $316 million to FC Barcelona to acquire another 15% of the club’s TV rights
Sixth Street Partners extended its commitment to Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona on Friday, acquiring an additional 15% of the team’s television rights over the next quarter century.
The San Francisco firm put up more than €310 million, equivalent to about $316.1 million, for the latest deal, according to a person familiar with the matter. Barely a month earlier, Sixth Street committed €207.5 million for a 10% stake in the team’s TV rights over the coming 25 years. The latest deal was based on the same valuation, the person said.
European soccer has become a hotbed of sports investment as private-equity firms and some of their principals buy into assets that are seen as lucrative sources of cash along with reliable capital appreciation. Media companies have bid up the value of game broadcasts in their search for fresh content that appeals to younger audiences, making top-performing teams increasingly attractive.
The latest headline-grabbing example came with the nearly £4.3 billion, equivalent to $5.1 billion, acquisition of Chelsea FC, a leading English soccer club, by Todd Boehly and California private-equity firm Clearlake Capital Group. Mr. Boehly, also a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, is a co-founder and the chief executive of Greenwich, Conn., investment holding company Eldridge Industries.
That deal came after Chelsea’s longtime owner, Roman Abramovich, was forced to divest following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But it shows how much such assets can appreciate.
Mr. Abramovich, a Russian billionaire, bought the club in 2003 for about £140 million. He subsequently spent about $2 billion to help Chelsea become a championship team.
Other private-markets investors who have purchased U.K. or European soccer teams include hedge-fund investor John Henry, the principal owner of baseball’s Boston Red Sox. Mr. Henry’s Fenway Sports Group bought England’s Liverpool club in 2010.
European and U.K. private-equity firms haven’t sat by idly either. Last year, CVC Capital Partners in London agreed to acquire a roughly 8% stake in media and marketing rights to Spain’s LaLiga soccer games. In March, CVC closed a reported €1.5 billion deal to acquire a 13% stake in a newly created company set up to handle media rights for France’s Ligue 1 and its 20 soccer clubs, including game broadcasts.
Sixth Street has made other sports investments. About a year ago, the firm backed the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs, joined by computer entrepreneur Michael Dell.
In European soccer, Sixth Street backed another Spanish soccer club, Real Madrid CF, in a €360 million deal that includes rights to new businesses at the team’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for the next two decades. Sixth Street was joined in the May transaction by arena operator Legends Hospitality LLC, a portfolio company of the firm.