The Buffalo Bills franchise of American football’s NFL is reportedly in talks to sell a minority stake to the Arctos Capital Partners private equity firm.
Reported by US publication Bloomberg, Arctos is seeking to buy the stake directly from Bills controlling owner Terry Pegula, though talks are still in the preliminary stages.
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The Bills hired investment bank Allen & Co. to explore the possibility of a stake sale back in April, far before private equity firms were allowed near team ownership.
At the time the team stated that the Pegula family would retain full control of the team and that the sale would not involve any of the other sports franchises that the family owns, such as the Buffalo Sabres of ice hockey's NHL, its American Hockey League affiliate Rochester Americans, and lacrosse’s Buffalo Bandits, among others.
Then, NFL franchise owners voted to allow the entry of private equity into NFL ownership in August, although only a small list of private equity firms. These companies, of which Arctos is included, are only allowed to buy stakes of up to 10% in NFL sides, and are prohibited from intervening in club operations.
Alongside the 10% cap, other regulations include each purchase being held for a minimum of six years, each fund being able to invest in a maximum of six teams each, and no more than 20% of a fund being allocated to any one NFL franchise.
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By GlobalDataPrivate equity was voted in to allow the league’s owners to benefit from minor stake sales as the valuations of NFL franchises skyrocket, reducing opportunities for these owners to sell up entirely.
Many NFL franchises are already engaging with private equity and the Bills are not the first.
In September it was revealed that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is in talks to sell a 10% stake in the team, its Hard Rock Stadium, the operating company behind the Formula 1 motor racing Miami Grand Prix, and tennis’ Miami Open, to private equity investors, and a further 3% to other investors.
Ares Management was identified as the private equity firm Ross is in talks with while the remaining 3% is set to be snapped up by tech mogul Joe Tsai.
The other selected and approved private equity firms besides Arctos and Ares are Sixth Street capital partners, and a consortium of five funds — Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity, and Ludis.
The Bills, meanwhile, won their last game 31-10 against the Seattle Seahawks on October 27.
