Football club investor Eagle files for US IPO, Bloomberg News reports
June 13 (Reuters) - Eagle Football Holdings, one of the most active investors in global football clubs, has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
The France-based company submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the report added, citing a company statement.
The firm has been working with UBS Group AG on the potential IPO, the report said.
Eagle Football, run by U.S. businessman John Textor, holds stakes in multiple football clubs including Olympique Lyonnais, Crystal Palace and Brazil's Botafogo.
The SEC and Eagle Football did not immediately respond to request for comment outside regular business hours.
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The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘No stadium, no club' – Championship side release video warning that it will cease to exist if new ground not approved
CHAMPIONSHIP club Oxford United have released a heartfelt video warning they will cease to exist if new stadium plans are not approved. Earlier this month, the U's penned an open letter to concerned locals regarding a proposed 16,000-seater stadium on land known as the Triangle, near Kidlington. 3 3 3 It comes with the looming fear of United's current lease on where they currently play, the Kassam Stadium, expiring in 2026. Last month, the club reached a deal with stadium owners, Fikora Group, to allow them to stay there for a maximum of two more years, with no more extensions or lease agreements possible following the agreement. But amid opposition from worried locals, a decision is set to be made on the plans by Cherwell District Council in July. And in a bid to sway the powers that be in their favour, United released a 2-minute 15-second video on YouTube. The video starts off by going into the 132-year history of the club since its founding in 1893. A voiceover of the club then warns how it may not be part of the future of the community, saying: "Imagine Oxford United is no longer. "No more dreams. No more community. No more football." The video cuts away to show fans cheering and chanting in the club's current home of the Kassam Stadium, which holds 12,573 people. Views from people involved with the club are then voiced in support of the plans, including matchday steward, Roland Clements, Women's team manager, Gemma Simms and first-team star, Sam Long. CEO Tim Williams then appears in the video and warns: "Our very existence is now at risk. Championship club could be left without a stadium as EFL deadline looms "This stadium will create jobs, boost the economy, improve lives and safeguard the future of this great club." The video ends with a poignant message declaring there are "no second chances" before adding: "No stadium, no club." A black screen appears with white text saying: "Our future is in your hands." In the club's open letter earlier this month, Williams said: "It doesn't get more serious than that for a football club. "We have seen headlines recently about a new Manchester United stadium, which with all due respect is a want and not a need. If Manchester United don't move out, they still have Old Trafford. "If Everton hadn't moved into Bramley Moor-Dock, they've still got Goodison. "If we don't move into a new stadium, we are homeless and we don't exist and it's an absolute travesty in my view. It's that important." United estimate their £130million stadium plans will create around 1,000 new jobs and add £32m a year to the local economy. First unveiled in 2023, the stadium will include a 180-bed hotel, restaurant, conference centre, community plaza and would be the UK's first all-electric stadium. A poll held in May 2023 by Kidlington Parish Council saw most residents who voted go against the plans. United have since made a number of changes to the original proposal. This included adding a new health and wellbeing centre and making 90 per cent of transport to the ground sustainable, which they said now had the support of the police and council highways officers. The club finished 17th in the Championship last season, a year after they were promoted from winning the League One play-off final.
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ben Ainslie's choppy seas: SailGP, the America's Cup and a split with Ineos
Just off Manhattan last weekend, a dozen 50ft catamarans soared across the water at speeds of up to 52mph. Navigating a precariously tight course, in the shadow of the city's myriad skyscrapers, teams battled challenging conditions in a series of rapid, hectic races. 'A lot of people don't really know what SailGP is about,' says Sir Ben Ainslie, the four-time Olympic champion sailor. 'And when they see it, it blows their mind. It's not what anyone would think sailing is about.' Gone are the days of boats sent out to become tiny specks in the distance, only to return hours later for gin and tonics at the yacht club. The sport has traditionally been pinned around two dominant events: the Olympics and the America's Cup. In 2018, billionaire tech tycoon Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts, one of the greatest sailors of all time, set out to change that. Their league, SailGP, is fast and at times dangerous. It was designed to be the antithesis of what those at the heart of sailing know the stereotype to be. The format is similar to Formula One, with teams, each representing a country, competing in different venues around the world. There are 12 stops this season in venues such as Saint-Tropez, Sydney and last weekend's event in New York. As for the boats, the ultra-light F50 catamarans are equipped with carbon fiber hydrofoils, launching them above the water at high speeds. 'The perfect lap would be a lap where you didn't touch down, where you were foiling 100% of the time, which means the boat is around about 98% out of the water,' notes broadcaster Georgie Ainslie, husband of Ben. 'That isn't sailing. That's flying.' As the league has grown, SailGP has increased the number of teams – and generated headlines by drawing in a string of Hollywood celebrities as owners. Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds recently became co-owners of the three-time champion Australian team, weeks after a consortium including Anne Hathaway acquired Red Bull Italy. The British team, Emirates GBR, was first to be sold; Ainslie and businessman Chris Bake bought a majority stake in 2021, and took further investment the following year, valuing the team at $40m. Dylan Fletcher, who won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, served as British team driver during SailGP's first season, but Ainslie took the spot in the second campaign. When Ainslie stepped off the boat last January, citing other commitments, he tapped another British Olympic gold medallist, Giles Scott, to take his place. But then Ainslie chose Fletcher over Scott to be his co-helm for the America's Cup – a decision Scott said left him 'freaking gutted' – and another SailGP team came knocking. Scott shifted to the Canadian team. Emirates GBR brought back Fletcher. 'There's a lot of weight on my shoulders,' says Fletcher, but returning was not a difficult decision: it 'wasn't through choice' he left in the first place. After a strong start this season, with top three finishes at the first three events, Emirates GBR has slipped. The first day of racing in New York, in challenging conditions, left the team in 10th place out of 12 at the event. 'Don't tell me, because I don't wanna know,' two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills, who serves as the team's strategist, says of the standings after returning to shore. It was a 'bit carnagey' out there, she adds. 'Lots to look at, but I do feel like we're in a really good place as a team.' The second day proved more successful, and Emirates GBR finished eighth in the event, and left New York fourth in the league. That morning, Ainslie had advised Fletcher against going 'all out', and instead to concentrate on putting 'building blocks in place for Portsmouth'. SailGP will land in the UK next month for the first time in three years. The grandstands will have capacity for 10,000 each day at an event organisers hope might be of a similar scale to the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland, which drew 25,000 people over two days: a crowd 'I never expected, really, to see in the sport of sailing', says Fletcher. The Portsmouth event is a golden opportunity for Ainslie's racing team to grow the British audience of SailGP, and attract a new generation of potential sailors and fans. But in recent months, the most explosive action has taken place off the water. Inside a shipping container at the tech site of last weekend's SailGP event, Ainslie is discussing the fortunes of his team when he makes the case for a bit of turmoil. 'When times are going well and everyone's sort of high-fiving and whatnot, you know, that's great,' he says. But it's only when 'you're up against the challenges' that 'any organisation' has the chance to pull together and test its mettle. It's safe to assume that few high fives were being exchanged inside Ainslie's Athena Sports Group back in January. Three months after he led a British boat to contest the America's Cup for the first time in 60 years, with the backing of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos empire, Ratcliffe pulled his support – and announced he would proceed without Ainslie, who promptly warned of 'legal and practical obstacles' for the tycoon's plan. The split marked the end of a multi-year partnership. Ratcliffe and Ineos are said to have spent around £240m on the project. In an interview with the Guardian, Ainslie is first to reference the events of recent months: 'plenty of turmoil' to test his organization, he says with a laugh. So what happened? The background chatter inside the container – transformed into an office for his team at SailGP – noticeably fades. 'Look, I can't really talk too much about it, because it's still quite a delicate situation,' he says, tentatively. 'Ultimately, as people can probably see, we ended up with a different view, a different opinion, on how we should move forwards on many different fronts.' Should Ainslie, sailor turned CEO, ever pursue a new career, diplomacy is not out of reach. There were 'quite a number of factors' and 'accusations' behind the split with Ratcliffe, he says, declining to detail a single one. But when he wants to make a point, he does not hesitate. The situation is 'a bit of a David and Goliath scenario', he says – twice, for good measure. The fallout between Ainslie and Ratcliffe – who, through Ineos, also co-owns Manchester United and backs the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team – was billed by some as a battle between two knights of the realm, and giants of British sport. But only one is worth an estimated £17bn. Last month, Ratcliffe appeared to back down. 'Unfortunately, the opportunity has slipped away,' he said. Ineos blamed 'protracted' negotiations with Athena, which insisted all along that it – rather than Ratcliffe's venture – was the official Challenger of Record for the next America's Cup. 'It's not been an easy time,' says Ainslie, an understatement perhaps bigger than the 75ft Britannia racing yacht he sailed in Barcelona at the America's Cup last October. 'But what it has done, it's really created a huge amount of resolve in the team ... Going to keep at it, come what may.' Ainslie is focused on 'holding the team together', he says. David, having seen off Goliath, now needs to get a lot bigger – fast. Previous America's Cup campaigns have cost in the region of £100m, although he hopes this one might be nearer £50m. Athena is now rebuilding 'from scratch', says Jo Grindley, chief marketing and commercial officer, who has worked with Ainslie since 2001, and helped secure tens of millions of pounds for successive America's Cup campaigns. For months, they have been quietly speaking with prospective sponsors and private investors for the next challenge. 'Hopefully in the coming weeks … that will all fall together,' says Grindley. Working on campaigns from SailGP to the America's Cup, Ainslie, 48, has been able drawn upon a batch of other Olympic champions, like Scott, Fletcher and Mills, all 37. But in recent years, he has been increasingly preoccupied by a looming question: who's next? Mills and Ainslie set up Athena Pathway to help get more women and young people into sailing, and provide opportunities for promising talent. The initiative put forward teams for the Women's America's Cup and Youth America's Cup last year. 'Holy shit,' thought Mills, as she led the women's team on the water. 'This feels big.' To improve the accessibility of foiling, the style of sailing at the heart of SailGP, Athena is training up young sailors on a fleet of single-handed WASZP dinghies in Weymouth. Kai Hockley, recruited aged 18 as a development sailor last summer, is embedded with its SailGP team, and due to compete at this summer's WASZP Games. Teams in SailGP, unlike most sports, are mixed. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Martine Grael became the league's first female driver, for the Brazilian team, this season. Mills, although quick to emphasise that Fletcher is doing a 'phenomenal job' for Emirates GBR, is keen to follow in Grael's footsteps. 'You never know when the opportunity might come,' she says. 'You just have to be as ready as you can be, and in the best place possible, so that you're the obvious choice if it does come.' Ainslie, whose mind rarely drifts far from the America's Cup, claims he 'most likely' won't be on the water this time around. 'I mean, look, I'm 48, you know? Not getting any younger,' he says, stressing he has yet to make any decisions. With two helmsmen required, Fletcher is 'doing a great job' in SailGP, he suggests; Scott is also a 'huge talent'. 'It's about identifying who can come through and do that job, and do that job better than I can do,' says Ainslie. 'My job over the coming months is to pull that together and see where we end up. I would definitely say I put myself down as a Plan B as a sailor.' While at peace with the transition to shore, Ainslie describes himself as a 'frustrated armchair sailor' when others take to the water. 'I'd like to say that it's absolutely fine, and I'm really cool and relaxed. I think I'd be lying,' he says. 'But also, there's something – there's some kind of satisfaction – from seeing the team doing really well.' His workload as CEO is not getting lighter. On top of overseeing another America's Cup campaign, a SailGP team and Athena Pathway, he and his wife launched a performance supplement brand last year. The focus is shifting to life 'after sailing', according to Georgie Ainslie. 'You can't just assume that, forever in a day, there'll just be Ben and the boat,' she says, with a grin. 'There has to be something beyond Ben and the boat!' A few days after our encounter in the container, however, Ainslie's team follows up with a clarification: he's not quite beyond the boat yet. His role in the next America's Cup 'will very much depend on the requirements of the team', he says in a statement. 'This will also be influenced by the rules of the next America's Cup and the talent available to the team. I would certainly never say never!' More than a decade has passed since Ainslie, who won the America's Cup with Oracle Team USA in 2013, first launched a British bid. Three subsequent attempts fell short; each as all-encompassing as the last. 'The last year has been a challenge. But at the same time, I think we've all understood that we've just got to get through it,' says Georgie Ainslie. 'Ultimately, Ben's goal is to win the America's Cup, for Britain. All he wants to do is do that … I know he will try until he can try no more to make that happen.' Ainslie laughs when asked if he's ever thought about walking away. 'Not really,' he replies. 'We set a goal to do it,' he says, as if it would be irrational to even consider jumping ship. 'You want to achieve it, don't you?' 'If you're going to take on something that's hard – and America's Cup is properly hard – it's going to require a bit of grit and determination,' says Ainslie. 'Because it's really, really not easy. And you've got to accept there's going to be tough moments, and it's going to take some time. But we're committed to the cause.'
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
Given 'prayed to God' Bonner wouldn't get injured
Cast your mind back to the are dominating the Scottish game and Pat Bonner is the Celtic goalkeeper.A fresh-faced 17-year-old Shay Given is on the Celtic bench "praying to God" the Ireland international didn't pull up injured and force his debut. He was "a nervous wreck".He needn't fear long, though, Bonner carried on and Given was never thrown in the deep fact, he never did make that Celtic debut. But he's done alright former Newcastle United great was back in Glasgow promoting next month's friendly between the two sides, and his trip back north brought back memories and that 'what if' feeling."Driving up the road there past Barrowfield, I remember we had to change here at the stadium, and I had to run down the road as an apprentice and train," he said at Celtic Park."The first team boys were driving past, blowing the horn and stuff. It's just all the memories come flooding back."I was on the bench once for an Old Firm game when I was 17, praying to God that Pat Bonner wasn't going to get injured because I was going to have to come off the bench at 17. I would have been a nervous wreck, if I'm being brutally honest."The club's changed so much since I was here at 16 until 18. Even the stadium, look around the stadium now, it's just phenomenal."I was here when the old jungle was there across from the dugout. The way the club has moved forward and moved on, it's a phenomenal club now. It's a totally different animal, as such, but it's great to see how the club has progressed."I always brings back a special feeling coming back here."
