Atairos - new minority owners of Villa

[DeadlyDirk]

Sign an USA rising star or two, followed by documentary showcasing Aston Villa's "rebirth" with a bit of extra focus on the American players and boom, marketing strategy and utilising our new link with Comcast see's brand Aston Villa erupt like Mount Vesuvius.

[TRO]

I have no idea of the financial gymnastics, of our owners, but suffice to say, with their resource, they will be well connected, and will use leverage where possible to enhance the clubs standing.

The implications are nebulous to me, but as a layman, it sounds encouraging.....I will rely on the more financially savvy  fans amongst us, for their take/guidance on it.

It does not surprise me , that our exponential rise in stature, will be capitalised on, by our higher ups.

 

[MrBlack]

So does the £80m investment count as owner backed funds. And if it does, we can spend it, but unless we make the £80m back cos logotype means any of that spend comes of our FFP bottom line? Essentially, we cant spend anymore now than we could if they hadn't invested, but instead of the owners pumping the money in its now a new part owner?

[useless]

Atairos invested in Arcis Golf, who are also backed by Fortress Investment Group

Edit: It's old news from 2022, but shows they were already worked together

Edited March 28 by useless

[Pongo Waring]

Oh I forgot about this. Are these the group funding our brand new stadium?

[ender4]

Quote

Nassef Sawiris and Wesley Edens said: “We are excited to enter this partnership with Atairos, which will provide capital to fund infrastructure investments

Just posted on the Villa website.  

It’s so obvious we are looking to build a new stadium. 
 

https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2024/april/12/club-statement/

[OutByEaster?]

Do we know how big a minority shareholding this is?

It's going to be very interesting to ee what they bring to the table - to a certain extent, I'm not sure we'll notice, the owners already do a brilliant job, but I wonder if they'll have a little influence on things that might make a differenc

[HeroesAndVillans]

I have heard a lot of talk that this is all about working towards a new stadium- that seems to be the case on here as well. Do we know any details about said stadium yet or is it all speculation at the moment?

[wishywashy]

21 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Do we know how big a minority shareholding this is?

It's going to be very interesting to ee what they bring to the table - to a certain extent, I'm not sure we'll notice, the owners already do a brilliant job, but I wonder if they'll have a little influence on things that might make a differenc

It's around 20%, per the FT article that interviewed Sawiris. The article said that the deal valued Villa at above £500m, so they've presumably paid upwards of £100m to get on board.

Edited April 12 by wishywashy

[Captain_Townsend]

5 minutes ago, HeroesAndVillans said:

I have heard a lot of talk that this is all about working towards a new stadium- that seems to be the case on here as well. Do we know any details about said stadium yet or is it all speculation at the moment?

Only been whispers because they ditched the much trumpeted new North Stand.

But lots of noise now. 

[OutByEaster?]

Just now, wishywashy said:

It's around 20%, per the FT article that interviewed Sawiris.

That's a big minority stake, suggests that they're seeing us as more than just a safe investment bet. 

[OutByEaster?]

7 minutes ago, HeroesAndVillans said:

I have heard a lot of talk that this is all about working towards a new stadium- that seems to be the case on here as well. Do we know any details about said stadium yet or is it all speculation at the moment?

It's a sort of gut reaction I think to the word infrastructure and no more than that.

Infrastructure could mean a whole lot of things; it could mean improvements to our hospitality and training ground, it could mean a South American academy, it could mean buying Lokomotiv Sofia, it could mean establishing a streaming network, a marketing and merchandising network, and it could mean development of Villa Park - we don't know.

The only people who will know what Atairos bring to the table (and why they've been invited) are Wes and Nassef.

[allani]

16 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Do we know how big a minority shareholding this is?

It's going to be very interesting to ee what they bring to the table - to a certain extent, I'm not sure we'll notice, the owners already do a brilliant job, but I wonder if they'll have a little influence on things that might make a differenc

If I remember at the time the concensus seems to be that they paid £80m and that the rumour was that was around a 20% stake - valuing VSports / Aston Villa at around £400m.  However, having gone looking for something to quote on that it seems like everyone stated "terms were not revealed".  I personally think that the sum invested is pretty much irrelevant - Atairos and by extension Comcast will become massive drivers for us as a club.  There's load of opportunities to just access their expertise in sports marketing, ticketing, stadium / infrastructure projects, media, TV, etc.  Comcast also own Sky (so it will be interesting to see whether that has any impact).  It is very interesting to look at what Comcast did with the stadium in Philadelphia and how they've raised revenue through different strategies there.  I know we've just signed a new front of shirt sponsor but I think the opportunities that Comcast will bring in advertising, partnerships, sponsorships, etc will be huge - they've a massive portfolio of businesses who could easily justifty a massive jump in some of our current deals but also have loads of connections and clients who they could easily bring into the picture.

So I disagree with you that we won't notice.  I don't think it will impact that much on how we run the football side of things but commercially and revenue wise I think this is going to be a complete game changer.  NSWE have some great contacts but Comcast are ridiculously well connected and have huge experience of raising vast sums of money in other sports.  Admittedly they are very US Sports driven but I do think a lot of what they've done they are looking to bring to Europe.  I think this deal will be right up there with the deal to sign Emery in a couple of years.

[ender4]

The thing is that they haven’t bought 20% of V-Sports for over £100 million to then spend £20m on this or that. NSWE could have done that with a standard loan and not giving up equity.
 

The aim surely has to be much much bigger, something that will pay back more than sticking £100m in the bank and earning 5% interest. 

[allani]

9 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

That's a big minority stake, suggests that they're seeing us as more than just a safe investment bet. 

My gut feel is that this is about Comcast looking to break into the European football market.  If so it is, potentially, absolutely huge.  These guys have serious cash, serious connections and serious ambition.

[wishywashy]

I found this line from Angelakis to be particularly interesting: even if it's just connecting dots that aren't there.

Quote

Michael Angelakis, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Atairos, said: “We have deep respect for Aston Villa, its rich history and loyal fan base, world-class management team and employees, and the V Sports ownership group. We are confident this partnership will provide further long-term support for the growth of the Premier League and Aston Villa’s men’s and women’s teams. We look forward to working with Nassef, Wes and the Aston Villa team to strengthen the Club’s ability to compete and achieve even greater success.”  

Growth of the Premier League being the first thing that comes to mind? He makes it sound as if Atairos already have a stake in the Premier League's success before this deal, like if two massive media companies under the same umbrella were directly tied to the fortunes of the Prem.

 

[allani]

14 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

It's around 20%, per the FT article that interviewed Sawiris. The article said that the deal valued Villa at above £500m, so they've presumably paid upwards of £100m to get on board.

At the time £80m was mentioned - I think because that value of new shares were issued at around the same time.  Initially it was felt that NSWE had just pumped some more cash into the club but then the Atairos agreement (subject to approval) was announced a day or two later.  So the two things might not have been connected at all.  Either that or they've invested £100m in VSports and 80% of VSports value is in Villa? 

[allani]

1 minute ago, wishywashy said:

I found this line from Angelakis to be particularly interesting: even if it's just connecting dots that aren't there.

Growth of the Premier League being the first thing that comes to mind? He makes it sound as if Atairos already have a stake in the Premier League's success before this deal, like if two massive media companies under the same umbrella were directly tied to the fortunes of the Prem.

 

Exactly.  Atairos are effectively a subsiduary of Comcast.  Comcast are the owners of Sky (for those that hadn't connected the dots that you have).  This is (I believe) all about Comcast increasing their PL presence.  Maybe I am looking at 2 + 2 and making the answer 9 but I do think that this has the potential to be huge for us.

[wishywashy]

1 minute ago, allani said:

At the time £80m was mentioned - I think because that value of new shares were issued at around the same time.  Initially it was felt that NSWE had just pumped some more cash into the club but then the Atairos agreement (subject to approval) was announced a day or two later.  So the two things might not have been connected at all.  Either that or they've invested £100m in VSports and 80% of VSports value is in Villa? 

There were a number of very specific share issues into Villa's Companies House firms that were definitely converted from US dollars, so I think you're right in that there was a connection.

[allani]

15 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

It's a sort of gut reaction I think to the word infrastructure and no more than that.

Infrastructure could mean a whole lot of things; it could mean improvements to our hospitality and training ground, it could mean a South American academy, it could mean buying Lokomotiv Sofia, it could mean establishing a streaming network, a marketing and merchandising network, and it could mean development of Villa Park - we don't know.

The only people who will know what Atairos bring to the table (and why they've been invited) are Wes and Nassef.

Nah I am convinced that the Execuctive Team at Comcast will know the answer to that (and many other questions) too.  And a quick look at Comcast's full portfolio of companies can give us a pretty good idea of what they bring to the table.