Silver Lake Nears Investment in New Zealand’s All Blacks

Private equity firm Silver Lake is finalizing an investment in New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team, despite powerful resistance.

The firm is reportedly likely to settle for a stake less than the 15% it had initially proposed last year. The deal with national governing body New Zealand Rugby faced opposition from the team and its players, who were wary of opening the door to outside investors.

• The investment will be in a new company created to hold All Blacks’ commercial rights, which could be valued at upward of $2 billion.
• Silver Lake’s stake is likely to be a little over 5%.

The prospective deal comes over a year after Silver Lake initially seemed close to acquiring a larger stake in the holding company. This new pact appears to have the approval of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association.

Silver Lake Keeps Fishing

The California-based private equity firm is on a torrid streak of sports investments. In December 2021, it secured a 33.3% stake in the Australian Professional Leagues for around $100 million. 

That same month, it teamed up with Endeavor to buy nine minor league baseball teams. The pair could eventually purchase up to 40 teams.

In September, Silver Lake invested a reported $50 million in analytics platform Pro Football Focus.