Takeover at Aston Villa strengthens cash defences
An Egyptian billionaire and an American sports team owner have joined together to “inject significant investment capital” into Aston Villa.
Aston Villa chairman Dr Tony Xia
NSWE is the vehicle for Nassef Sawiris’ group NNS and businessman Wes Edens. Sawiris, who is based in London, has beenn described by Forbes as one of Africa’s richest men while Edens is the co-owner of NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Championship club has faced nearly two months of speculation after its failure to get promoted into the Premier League resulted in its cash problems becoming a crisis.
Aston Villa revealed the transaction on Friday afternoon, albeit leaving many questions unanswered.
The size of the investment has not been revealed while the changed ownership structure has also not been detailed. Dr Tony Xia will become co-chairman, the club said, while Bloomberg has reported that NSWE has taken a 55% stake.
Dr Tony Xia said: “To have come so close to achieving promotion last season was a humbling experience. In finding such strong partners as Nassef and Wes we’re gearing up to fight again and bring back the success that this Club deserves and we all so want to provide it with.
“The future is exciting on a number of fronts and I look forward to exploring further business collaborations.”
It’s been very very tough two months. Nothing changed my love and commitment to AV even the Chinese economy policy made things of the most difficulty. Hope new partnership with Naseef and Wes, we can continue our efforts to bring Villa to where it belongs. #VillaInMyHeart
— Dr. Tony Xia (@Dr_TonyXia) July 20, 2018
In a joint statement, Sawiris and Edens said: “We believe that together we bring business and sports experience that will help strengthen the club to ensure Aston Villa can return to its rightful place in the upper echelons of English football.
“Our goal is to bring sustainable success to the club, building on its rich history while respecting its loyal fan base and unique culture. We understand that we are stewards of Aston Villa on behalf of the fans and we take that responsibility seriously.”
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs advised Aston Villa on the investment, continuing the firm’s long-standing relationship with the football club. It acted on the two previous takeovers of the club, by Randy Lerner in 2006 and by Xia in 2016.
The Squire Patton Boggs team was led from Birmingham by corporate partner and football M&A expert David Hull and partners Mark Yeo and Devinder Singh.
Hull said: “Aston Villa is one of the firm’s oldest clients, with a long and proud history in top-flight football. This investment will strengthen the club and help it to achieve future success.”
Hogan Lovells’ real estate team worked alongside Squire Patton Boggs on the transaction, led out of the firm’s Birmingham office by senior associate Mohammed Alam and supported by associate Anna Crabbe.
Alam added: “It’s great to be working with Aston Villa FC, a client at the heart of our local Birmingham community, as part of the extended ‘team’ to support the club in its ambitions.”
