Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi-owned City Football Group (CFG) announced on Wednesday that it has concluded an investment deal with American firm Silver Lake. The private equity firm will invest $500 million for just over 10 percent of the company’s post-investment value in a deal which values CFG at $4.8 billion.

CFG operates 24 men’s, women’s and youth teams, including Premier League Champions Manchester City FC, New York City FC, and Melbourne City FC. The group, whose primary owner is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi United Group, also owns a variety of football related businesses.

“We and Silver Lake share the strong belief in the opportunities being presented by the convergence of entertainment, sports and technology and the resulting ability for CFG to generate long-term growth and new revenue streams globally,” said the Chairman of CFG Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Silver Lake will become the second major partner in CFG, along with a consortium of Chinese institutional investors, led by media and entertainment conglomerate CMC Inc., which own 12 percent of the company.

Al Mubarak indicated that the proceeds from the investment will be used by CFG to fund international business growth opportunities and develop the group’s technology and infrastructure assets.

Egon Durban, the managing partner and managing director at Silver Lake will join the CFG board, expanding its members to nine from eight members.

*Al Arabiya