Atletico owners negotiating with US firm Apollo over majority stake sale – reports

Atletico Madrid’s owners are in advanced negotiations to sell a majority stake of the Spanish football club’s shares to US private equity firm Apollo Global Management, according to various reports citing sources close to the deal.

Both the American firm and Atletico declined to confirm the reports when asked by AFP.

“To get good results and keep the fans happy, you have to keep investing significant money in players and infrastructure,” said Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin at a sports and business event on Tuesday, in part hosted by Expansion.

“That investment has to come from outside… now we are open to a new investor coming into the ownership group.”

Apollo are looking to buy a portion of the shares from the four current partners, according to Spanish newspaper Expansion.

Gil Marin, club president Enrique Cerezo, Ares Management and Quantum Pacific are the current owners.

CEO Gil Marin is the majority shareholder of Atletico through Holdco, a company that has a 70.39 percent stake, while Quantum Pacific, a British company created by Israeli magnate Idan Ofer, holds 27.81 percent.

Within Holdco, Gil Marin holds 50.82 percent of the shares, while Ares Management owns 33.96 percent, and Cerezo owns 15.22 percent.

Apollo values Atletico at 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion), according to Expansion.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange and managing more than $800 billion in assets, Apollo is reported to be considering executing the deal through a $5 billion sports investment fund.

Atletico, who last won La Liga in 2021, have struggled at the start of this season and are currently 12th in the table.