SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian private equity firm Treecorp Partners on Tuesday reached a deal to acquire soccer club Coritiba in a deal valued at about 1.3 billion reais ($260 million), the latest in a wave of recent investments in Brazil’s most popular sport.
Under the deal, Treecorp will own 90% of the 113-year old club that plays out of Curitiba in Brazil’s southern state of Parana.
Of the enterprise value of 1.32 billion reais, 270 million reais will be used to pay off the club’s debts, while 100 million reais will be spent on renovating its training center and 450 million reais set aside for day-to-day operations.
Coritiba, which was promoted in 2021 to the first division of the country’s league, added that 500 million reais will be used to modernize its stadium, known as Couto Pereira.
The recent funding boom in Brazilian soccer follows the approval of a law allowing clubs to seek outside investment. There are also efforts to centralize talks to allow clubs to sell transmission rights and marketing contracts.
Last week, City Football Group (CFG), the owner of Manchester City, concluded a deal worth 1 billion reais to acquire 90% of Esporte Clube Bahia, a club from the city of Salvador.
($1 = 5.0033 reais)
(Reporting by Peter Frontini, editing by Deepa Babington)
