Southampton FC
Sport Republic acquisition · 5 Jan 2022
- Buyer
- Sport Republic
- Seller
- Gao Jisheng (Lander Sports Development)
- Stake acquired
- 80%
- Control
- Yes
- Reported consideration
- ~€120m
- Implied equity value
- €150m
- League
- Premier League
- Country
- England
- Confidence
- MEDIUM
Sport Republic acquired a 80% majority stake in Southampton FC from Gao Jisheng (Lander Sports Development), announced 5 Jan 2022.
Reported consideration was ~€120m. That implies a 100% equity value of €150m (calculated by us).
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.”