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Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners have agreed to sell a minority stake to US investment group Arctos Partners, in a deal that values the French football club at more than €4bn and showcases how investors continue to bet on the growth of sports assets.
PSG said on Thursday that the arrival of a new shareholder would help to fund growth, including international expansion into markets such as the US, and fund investment in infrastructure such as upgrading its stadium and new training ground.
Financial terms were undisclosed. Arctos will buy up to 12.5 per cent of the French champions, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who added that the deal valued PSG at more than €4bn. Talks started more than a year ago.
It is the latest sign of investor demand for top European football brands, with sport increasingly recognised as an asset class with attractive revenue streams and the potential for capital appreciation.
Since hosting the men’s football World Cup late last year, Qatar has sought to broaden its investments in sport. Earlier this year, the Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, paid $200mn for a 5 per cent stake in the owner of Washington’s professional basketball and hockey teams.
The deal comes just weeks after Arctos bought an undisclosed minority stake in Formula One racing team Aston Martin, valuing the sports team at about £1bn.
Led by Doc O’Connor, a former executive at Hollywood agency CAA, Arctos has accumulated passive stakes in a range of sports assets, from baseball and basketball to hockey. The group, which was founded in 2019, also has a stake in John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, which owns Premier League side Liverpool FC.
Qatar Sports Investments, the state-backed group, has transformed PSG into the dominant force in French football. The influx of Qatari cash also helped to market the club as “Paris”, turning the Parc des Princes stadium into a destination for celebrities and recasting PSG as a lifestyle brand that has one of the highest revenues in European football at €654mn in 2021/22, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League.
QSI paid about €70mn to acquire PSG in 2011 and has invested an estimated €1.5bn since, providing the firepower to recruit stars such as French forward Kylian Mbappé and to build a €300mn training centre in the western suburbs of Paris.
Nine league titles in the past 11 seasons highlight how PSG’s financial might has skewed the odds against domestic rivals, but the club has failed to win the Uefa Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious club tournament, losing the 2020 final to Germany’s Bayern Munich.
PSG chair and chief executive Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who chairs QSI and Doha-based broadcaster beIN Group, has become one of the most influential leaders in European football. He has chaired the European Club Association since 2021 when he helped to quash the breakaway European Super League.
Al-Khelaifi described the deal as an “important milestone” for the club, and said Arctos would bring “strategic expertise, ideas and innovation to our business”.
However, the club had a tumultuous summer transfer window, parting with Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi and Brazilian star Neymar.
Those departures marked a turning point for the club, clearing hefty salaries from the wage bill following net losses of more than €700mn in the three seasons from 2020 to 2022 as the pandemic hit football.
Mbappé’s future looks uncertain beyond the end of this season, following persistent interest from Real Madrid in recent years.
However, PSG’s spending under QSI has drawn scrutiny from authorities and rivals. In September 2022, the Uefa body responsible for overseeing financial regulations said PSG was among eight clubs that had not complied with its “break-even requirement” and imposed a financial penalty of up to €65mn.
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