Chinese Investor Sells Southampton Soccer Team to Solak

(Bloomberg) -- Sport Republic, an investment firm backed by Serbian businessman Dragan Solak, has taken over Southampton Football Club from Chinese owner Gao Jisheng.

The group has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in the team from Gao, it said in a statement Tuesday. The new owners will work in partnership with Southampton's minority shareholder, Katharina Liebherr, according to the statement.

Sport Republic was founded by Henrik Kraft, who spent 10 years at private equity firm KKR & Co., and Rasmus Ankersen, who most recently helped oversee Brentford Football Club's return to the U.K.'s elite Premier League for the first time in more than 70 years. The deal ends a period of disquiet for Southampton amid uncertainty over whether Gao would sell out of the U.K. soccer team.

“Over the last few years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward,” Martin Semmens, Southampton FC's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The sale to Sport Republic values Southampton at about 205 million pounds ($278 million), including debt, according to estimates from Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in soccer finance at the University of Liverpool.

Known for having produced some of U.K.'s best young soccer talent, including Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Southampton sits in the bottom half of the Premier League. Prior to Gao's takeover in 2017, the club had qualified for the Europa League.

Chinese investors have been steadily unwinding their positions in European soccer, reversing a dash into overseas investment that had been encouraged by Beijing. The U.K.'s Aston Villa FC, Spain's Atletico Madrid and Italy's AC Milan have all seen Chinese backers withdraw in recent years.

“This sale is further evidence that the initial enthusiasm for buying sports assets has faded away for Chinese investors,” said Maguire. “The Chinese government no longer feels comfortable with such conspicuous consumption.”

With Chinese investors largely beating a retreat, new investment in European soccer has predominantly been coming from the U.S., with investors of many types -- private equity, alternative lenders and hedge funds -- seeking out opportunities in the sport.