A US-based private equity firm has acquired a 40% stake in Premier League promotion-chasers Ipswich Town as part of a £105m investment.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Championship club have revealed that Bright Path Sports Partners have pumped £105m ($132.3m) into the club, which will go towards infrastructure projects such as redeveloping the training ground at Playford Road. This is the latest example of a US firm investing in an English football side, with Hollywood actors and Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney a prime example of how to effectively run a club.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
This is another big step in the right direction as Ipswich – whose most famous fan may be Ed Sheeran – seek to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002. They have a well-respected manager in Kieran McKenna at the helm, are playing an attractive brand of football, and the signs seem positive they will be backed in the way they need to financially in the years to come. Incidentally, ORG remains the majority and controlling shareholder of Ipswich with a 50% stake, with the remaining 10% made up of smaller investors such as the Three Lions Fund.
WHAT THE NEW INVESTORS SAID
Sam Simon, the lead investor in the Bright Path-Ipswich investment, told the club’s website: “We are excited to be making this investment in a brilliant football club. We love the history, the potential for the future, the passionate fans and the management of the Club, who are amazing people. We invest in people and this is perfect for us. We believe in investing for the future in order to give the team and management the tools to do their jobs and we’re excited to be working together.”
WHAT NEXT?
Ipswich, who sit third in the Championship after earning automatic promotion from League One last season, return to action away to Blackburn Rovers on Friday, March 29, before hosting fourth-placed Southampton on Easter Monday.
