Soccer-U.S. private equity group Arctos acquires minority stake in PSG

(Reuters) – U.S. private equity group Arctos Partners have acquired a minority common equity stake in French champions Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.

PSG said Arctos’s investment will go towards growing the club’s operations and supporting their real estate initiatives, including the stadium and training centre.

Financial details were not disclosed but the Financial Times reported Arctos would buy a 12.5% stake which values PSG at four billion euros ($4.32 billion).

Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), who bought PSG in 2011, will continue to have full control of the club and its decision-making.

Arctos will be a non-controlling owner and will not have any influence on any on-field sporting matters, PSG said.

“As a club and institution, we are entering the next exciting phase of PSG’s growth and development, both on and off the pitch – which is based on long-term ambitions and attaining excellence in everything we do,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said in a statement.

“Arctos is a fantastic partner to help us achieve our goals, bringing strategic expertise, ideas and innovation to our business, while providing investment and new relationships to support our footballing and sporting goals.”

PSG have won nine Ligue 1 titles since QSI took over the club. They have a four-point lead in the standings this season after 14 games.

Last month, the Aston Martin Formula One team said they had agreed to an investment by Arctos in exchange for a minority shareholding, which valued the racing group at one billion pounds ($1.26 billion).

($1 = 0.9267 euros)

($1 = 0.7949 pounds)

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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