Serbian billionaire-backed Sport Republic buys Southampton in £100m deal

Rasmus Ankersen, the former Brentford co-director of football, and Henrik Kraft, a London-based investor and chairman of Sport Republic, are also involved in the Southampton takeover.

Solak said: “My partners and I have experience in long-term investments in the sports and entertainment industry and Sport Republic has been founded to combine this expertise and deliver something unique to the market.

“Southampton has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organisation. It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football and a dedicated fan base.

“We are delighted to be able to complete this acquisition as a first step towards execution of our investment strategy. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organisation we plan to build.

Southampton is Sport Republic’s first acquisition and they are aiming to “build a portfolio of high-influence stakes in
football clubs and other sporting assets across the world”.

Kraft said: “We will be an active and engaged owner, but we will not be starting any revolutions.

“We were attracted to Southampton because it is already a well-run club that follows a clearly defined strategy.

“Southampton’s CEO Martin Semmens will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the club, and Sport Republic will be working closely with him and his team to help the club grow.

“The acquisition of Southampton is a great first step and we are very excited about the journey ahead.”

Southampton have been seeking a new owner for months.

Semmens said: “Over the last two years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward. Today we have found the perfect solution for our club.

“Sport Republic are experienced investors, but also experienced within the world of elite professional sports. That combination is very hard to find, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement that secures our short and long-term future.

“We are grateful for the support of Mr Gao and Katharina that allowed us to take our time, turn away the wrong options and ultimately find the right partner for the future of this great club, its fans, staff and the people of Southampton.

“I don’t think there will be lots of incomings, but this is fantastic news for Southampton supporters – it’s a late Christmas present.

“Usually when someone buys a Premier League club, you think ‘this is just a billionaire who wants to buy a club for vanity sake, or he wants to show off to his friends’.

“But this investment company is very interesting when you look into it. The main investor in the company is a Serbian billionaire called Dragan Solak, who has made a lot of money in south eastern Europe. He’s got a telecommunications and media companies, so that’s where a bulk of the money is coming from.

“But the really interesting person involved in all of this is someone called Rasmus Ankersen, who was on this show in the summer.

“He was the co-director of football for six years at Brentford and was instrumental in their promotion to the Premier League, their business model and how much they rely on data and finding the kind of players who are value for money in the transfer market that some other clubs haven’t seen.

“What they’re saying is they’re not just going to buy Southampton to try and make them successful, they’re setting up a new kind of company and there are going to be lots of other clubs – Southampton are just one of the clubs they’re going to own – and also they’re going to be buying and investing in technology companies who specialise in sports and data.

“It’s quite exciting, it’s something we’ve seen before in the Premier League.”

Source: Sky Sports