Southampton FC
Sport Republic acquisition · 5 Jan 2022
- Buyer
- Sport Republic
- Seller
- Gao Jisheng
- Stake acquired
- 80%
- Control
- Yes
- Reported consideration
- ~€120m
- Implied equity value
- €150m
- League
- Premier League
- Country
- England
- Confidence
- HIGH
Buyer profile: Sport Republic: clubs owned, where they buy next
Sport Republic acquired a 80% majority stake in Southampton FC from Gao Jisheng, announced 5 Jan 2022.
Reported consideration was ~€120m. That implies a 100% equity value of €150m (calculated by us). Announced enterprise value was ~€225m.
Nearest pre-acquisition revenue was €183m (FY 2020/21), an equity value / revenue multiple of 0.82x.
- Announced
- 5 Jan 2022
- Closed
- 5 Jan 2022
- Stake after transaction
- 80%
- Status
- completed
Reported consideration
What the buyer reportedly paid for the stake
Implied 100% equity value
Calculated: consideration ÷ stake acquired
Reported club valuation
Enterprise value
Only shown when debt/cash near the transaction date is established
Debt assumed / restructured
Primary capital injection
Total announced investment commitment
Commitments are not purchase price and not valuation
Nearest pre-acquisition financial year: 2020/21
Revenue
Wages
EBITDA
Net debt
Net income
This is the cleanest of the four deals: Sky Sports' contemporaneous report and ESPN both confirm Sport Republic's purchase of Gao Jisheng's 80% stake for £100m, completed 5 January 2022, with Katharina Liebherr retaining her 20%. The club's own official announcement (s3) confirms the transaction and that financial statements were filed but did not surface a specific price in the retrievable excerpt, so reported_consideration is REPORTED rather than CONFIRMED, though corroboration across two independent tier-3 outlets with no conflicting figures found gives reasonable confidence.
Implied 100% equity value (£125m / €150m) is a straightforward CALCULATED figure since both consideration and stake are clean. Revenue of £157m (FY2020/21, year ended June 2021) comes from Swiss Ramble's specialist analysis rather than a filing we read directly. No debt, EBITDA or net income data were locatable for the transaction date. Overall confidence is MEDIUM given valuation and revenue rest on credible secondary/specialist reporting rather than primary filings or an explicit price disclosure in official statements.
- Sky Sports: Southampton takeover: Club confirm Serbian-born businessman Dragan Solak has completed £100m deal ↗Tier 3 · media
2022-01-05 — “"Sport Republic has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Southampton Football Club... They have purchased the shareholding of the club held by Mr Gao and will work in partnership with Katharina Liebherr who retains her minority shareholding." States 80% stake, £100m deal, completion 5 January 2022.”
2022-01-05 — “Confirms Sport Republic's acquisition of Gao Jisheng's 80% stake, Katharina Liebherr retaining 20%, and Rasmus Ankersen/Henrik Kraft roles; content taken from search-indexed excerpt.”
- Southampton FC official site: St Mary's Football Group 2020/21 financial results ↗Tier 1 · primary company
2021-12-01 — “Confirms St Mary's Football Group Ltd (parent of Southampton FC) released financial statements for 2020/21; full figures were in a linked downloadable report not retrievable via fetch, so the specific revenue figure is instead sourced from s4.”
- The Swiss Ramble (Substack): Southampton Finances 2021/22 ↗Tier 4 · specialist media
2023-01-01 — “"revenue dropping £6m (4%) from £157m to £151m" (2020/21 to 2021/22), establishing FY2020/21 revenue at £157m.”
- St Mary's Football Group Limited — Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2021 (PDF hosted by Southampton FC) ↗Tier 1 · audited accounts
2022-03-20 — “Strategic report summary table: Turnover 2021 £157,245k (2020: £126,636k); Loss before interest and tax £(13,692)k (2020: £(73,284)k). 'Broadcasting revenue has risen from £93.5m to £136.0m ... £19.3m of broadcasting revenue associated with the six games played after the year-end was deferred into the 2020/21 season'. 'the all-staff wages to turnover ratio ... decreased year-on-year from 90% in 2020 to 72% in 2021'; 'player remuneration for the men's first team decreased slightly from £89.8m to £89.3m (57% of turnover)'. 'The loss for the year, after taxation, amounted to £14,762,000 (2020: loss of £62,428,000)'. Net loss before tax £(22,777)k.”
- St Mary's Football Group Ltd — Annual Report and Financial Statements, year ended 30 June 2021 (club-published PDF) ↗Tier 1 · audited accounts
2022-03-20 — “"The Group reported a net debt position of £62.2m at the Statement of Financial Position date (2020: net debt of £4.8m)." ... "the cash balance fell to £28.8m at the Statement of Financial Position date. Gross debt has remained broadly the same, totalling £90.7m at the Statement of Financial Position date (2020: £91.3m)" ... "On 22 December 2021, the entire share capital of the Group was acquired by Sport Republic Ltd and Katharina Liebherr from Lander Sports (UK) International Investment Co., Ltd."”