Aston Villa owners take in new money from Atairos for expansion of V Sports
East Coast US private equity firm Atairos has made a stake in Premier League Aston Villa’s parent company, V Sports.
US billionaire Wesley Edens and Egyptian-American billionaire Nassef Sawiris jointly control V Sports.
Atairos has agreed to become a minority partner in V Sports; however, the exact investment amount and stake remain undisclosed.
V Sports Sports “will continue to own 100% of AVFC post-closing of the transaction and will continue to have full control of all decisions at AVFC,” according to a statement from the company.
Aston Villa was bought in June 2016 by Chinese businessman Tony Xia bought the club for £76 million.
Sawiris and Edens bought Aston Villa when the club was in the Championship in 2018 for an estimated £30 million
though by the end of 2022 had invested more than £85 million in the club that has seen the club promoted back to the
Premier League in 2019 where it currently sites in third position after 17 games, but only a point behind league leaders Arsenal.
V Sports said the new money will “fund growth and infrastructure investments, with the aim of creating material and sustainable value for AVFC and the broader V Sports network”.
While Sawiris and Edens have invested heavily in Villa, they have also built a network of clubs and partnerships that
include a minority stake in Vitoria S.C. in the Portugal’s Primeira Liga as well as formal partnerships with
Real Union in Spain, Egyptian Premier League side, ZED FC and Japanese J1 League champions, Vissel Kobe.
In a joint statement Sawiris and Edens said: “This exciting partnership enhances the Club’s financial
footing and strengthens its ability to compete in England and in Europe. V Sports is fully committed to
further investment in Aston Villa FC and its men’s and women’s teams and looks forward to its continued growth and success.”
Atairos, with offices in New York City and Philadelphia, was launched in 2016 and has $6.5 billion of equity capital. Its investment strategy is broad-based in terms of industries, but focussed on potential for long term growth and management teams that will achieve that.
This is understood to be its first investment in football but has made other sports-based entertainment investments in golf and bowling.
“Aston Villa is a historic football club with an exceptional management team and significant growth
potential,” stated Michael Angelakis, chairman and CEO of Atairos. We firmly believe that both the
men’s and women’s teams of Aston Villa and the Premier League have the capacity to flourish internationally over the long run.
We are excited to work with Nassef and Wes and have a lot of respect for Aston Villa’s leadership.
We can’t wait to use our experience assisting companies in the sports, leisure, and live entertainment sectors to help the Club reach even higher levels of success.
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