Arctos to prioritise US sports investments with new US$4.1bn fund

The sports-related assets under the private equity firm’s management are worth an estimated US$7 billion, with its European investments including French soccer titan Paris Saint-Germain and Serie A highflyer Atalanta. It also holds a minority stake in Premier League soccer club Liverpool, as part of its equity held in Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and in Formula One team Aston Martin.

According to Charles, the firm is expected to look increasingly towards the US for new investment opportunities. This is down to there being “no shortage of opportunities” for finding reliable returns from the US sports market.

“We want to invest behind global brands that have the predictability and the durability and resiliency and the dynamics that are commonplace in North American sports assets,” he told the Financial Times (FT). “Finding those outside of North America is difficult.”

US investor interest in European soccer clubs has yet to waver, with Uefa finding that American investors were involved in 7 out of 15 takeovers at first-division clubs in 2023.

Yet Charles acknowledges that the European sporting structure made teams less attractive from an investment perspective, with its use of a promotion/relegation system, and the distribution of broadcast revenue being based on league performance.

“Every owner in North America gets paid the same amount from its league, no matter if they’re in first place or last place,” Charles said, making it “more predictable than just about anything else you can invest in private markets”.