Latham & Watkins Advises Silver Lake on US$500 Million Strategic Investment in City Football Group
City Football Group (CFG), the world's leading private owner and operator of soccer clubs, has announced that Silver Lake, a global leader in technology investing, has made a US$500 million equity investment, equivalent to just over 10% of the company's post-investment value. The deal values City Football Group, the owner of soccer clubs and related businesses including Premier League Champions Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain, and Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, at US$4.8 billion post-investment. CFG has since agreed on a deal to acquire a majority stake in the Indian Super League Club Mumbai City FC.
Latham & Watkins LLP represents Silver Lake in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by New York partner Justin Hamill, London partner Edward Barnett, and Century City partner Adam Sullins, with associates Matthew Peplow, Alex McCarney, Nick Fisher, Jamie Levine, and Claudia Sousa. Advice was also provided on tax matters by London partner Sean Finn, New York partner Lisa Watts, and Chicago partner Rene de Vera, with associate James Leslie, and on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partners Les Carnegie and Benjamin Naftalis and London partner Ian Felstead, with associates Robyn Greenberg and Jason Despain.