The American asset management company Apollo is in negotiations with Atletico Madrid to acquire a participation in Spain’s third largest soccer club, in an initiative that would mark a rare foray of Wall Street giant in sports.
The conversations came from the search of Atlético by investors for a real estate project of 800 million euros (R $ 5.2 billion) near its stadium, according to a club leader. The manager said that Apollo raised the alternative idea of acquiring a participation in Atletico Holdco, the company that controls the soccer club, during discussions about the real estate project.
Atletico Holdco’s largest shareholder is his longtime CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, who has 50.8% of the shares. Enrique Cerezo, president of Atlético, has a 15.2%stake.
Gil Marín and Cerezo are not willing to sell any of their shares, but would be open to issue new actions to allow Apollo to get a participation, said the leader.
The person added that Apollo has not made a firm offer, formal negotiations are not underway and there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached. Apollo refused to comment.
A spokesman for Atletico said “the club is proud to see the market response” to its real estate plans, but refused to comment on negotiations related to the potential sale of participation.
While US investors have invested strongly in football in recent years, Apollo has been maintained mostly on the sidelines. The alternative asset manager considered finance investors interested in the acquisition of Manchester United and previously agreed with a $ 1.25 billion investment in the Mexican soccer league, which later broke.
Apollo has invested heavily in Europe, however, including the purchase of the OEG energy group and the loan of 4.5 billion pounds (R $ 33.7 billion) to finance the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in the UK.
Atletico has qualified for the lucrative Champions League for 12 consecutive years and reached the final of the main club competition in Europe twice during this period. If Apollo acquires a minority participation, this would be aligned with a recent trend of soccer investors seeking without control.
Data from UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) showed that the number of sports acquisitions has been halving last year as pressure on transmission rights and regulatory uncertainty reduced business appetite.
Atletico’s holding company already has US investors in the form of Ares Management, a private investment group that acquired a 34% share of 182 million euros (R $ 1.2 billion) in 2021. A recent report from Football Benchmark consultancy attributed to Atletico an estimated business value of 1.9 billion euros (R $ 12.3 billion).
Atletico is seeking funding for a development project called Ciudad del Deporte, or sports city, around his metropolitan stadium. The club plans to develop facilities for activities such as golf, climbing and padel.
Atlético’s goal is to raise 555 million euros (R $ 3.6 billion) from private investors, of the 800 million euros necessary for the project, offering participation in Parque Metropolitano, the company that will manage it.
The club plans to invest 125 million euros (R $ 810 million) of its own funds and another 120 million euros (R $ 777.3 million) will come from an entity that controls the commercial revenue of Spanish first division soccer clubs.
Apollo negotiations with Atletico were first reported by the Spanish newspaper Expansión.
