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The Saudi PIF-owned SURJ Sports Investment has entered the sale process for a €1 billion minority stake in the EuroLeague, a European basketball club competition, according to a report by the Financial Times (FT).
The sports investment firm could invest alongside private equity firm General Atlantic, the news daily reported, citing people with familiar with the deal.
Other companies in the running include British investment firm BC Partners, which recently snapped up a stake for its credit arm in the sports agency GSE Worldwide, the FT added.
EuroLeague Commercial Assets, which owns EuroLeague and EuroCup Basketball, is looking to sell roughly a third of the business, the FT report quoting sources as saying, with the group working with American boutique investment bank LionTree for the stake sale which is in advanced stages of negotiation.
The $925 billion Saudi sovereign fund set up SURJ Sports Investment in August 2023 with a focus on assets with high growth potential in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
