Sport Republic has completed the acquisition of controlling stake in Southampton Football Club Limited.
Commenting on the agreement, the Lead Investor of Sport Republic, Dragan Solak, said:
“We are long term investors in the sports and entertainment industry, and Southampton FC has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports franchise. It has a great management team, excellent talent development and a dedicated fan base.”
Southampton FC’s CEO Martin Semmens will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the Club, and Sport Republic will be working closely with Semmens and his team to help the club grow.
The Chairman of Sport Republic, Henrik Kraft, added:
“We will be an active and engaged owner but we will not be starting any revolutions. We were attracted to Southampton FC because it is already a well run club that follows a clearly defined strategy.”
Southampton FC is Sport Republic’s first acquisition and Henrik Kraft expects more investments to follow over the coming years.
“Our ambition is to build a portfolio of high influence stakes in football clubs and other sports franchises across the world. At the same time we will also invest in early stage sport technology companies and use our portfolio to accelerate the development of these companies. The acquisition of Southampton FC is a great first step and we are very excited about the journey ahead,” explains Henrik Kraft.