By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The newly formed Australian Professional Leagues (APL), operators of the men’s A-League and women’s W-League, has sold a 33% stake to US investor Silver Lake for an estimated $100 million.
The APL only officially began full operation in July this year once the leagues and the professional clubs were officially unbundled from national governing body Football Australia. The Silver Lake investment values the APL at $300 million.
An APL press release said: “Silver Lake’s investment aimed at supporting APL’s sustained, long-term growth strategy for the leagues, with a measured deployment of capital over the coming years. Funds will be used to drive enhancements widely across many aspects of the professional game.”
The first enhancement will be on marketing, product development and strengthening direct-to-consumer execution, said the APL.
Silver lake has more than $90 billion under management and its companies generate more than $227 billion of revenue globally. Silver Lake has a $500 million football investment in City Football Group, owners of Manchester City, Melbourne City and NYCFC, as well as a number of other clubs. Now Silver Lake owns a third of the league Melbourne City plays in.
Paul Lederer, A-Leagues Chair, said: “Silver Lake is a world-class leader in technology and media investing and thispartnership is a testament to the compelling opportunities for growth and even better, deeper fan engagement that ourleagues are cultivating. This valuation recognises the latent potential that has long existed in the professional game in Australia.”
The new money will be invested across all competitions, but the APL said there will be a specific focus “on extendedgrowth in the Liberty A-League Women and A- League Youth competitions”.
Football Australia, who had to approve the deal, welcomed the investment as driving a new era for the professional game in Australia.
“The funds that will flow from this transaction will provide crucial capital into the professional game andenable continued investment by Football Australia into strategic initiatives to benefit the Australian footballcommunity at large, which could include initiatives such as the expansion of national competitions outside of A-Leagues and investing in digital transformation to enhance the experience of our broad and diverseparticipation base,” said James Johnson, CEO of Football Australia.
His theme was echoed by Football Australia Chair, Chris Nikou, who said the structural reform undertaken by the sport has been crucial.
“In recent years, the sport has taken transformative steps for the future which have included important and difficult structural changes which have been deemed necessary- even crucial – for the continued evolution andgrowth of Australian football. Today’s announcement … is another step forward for the sport and one which will inject vital capital and ensure that our sport continues to thrive from grassroots through to the professionalleagues,” said Nikou.
Silver Lake will appoint its managing director Stephen Evens to the APL board, while Football Australia will also add a board member.
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