Agreement with Silver Lake Fund: New Zealand unions to vote in June

The New Zealand rugby union, the New Zealand Federation (NZR), has called an extraordinary general meeting in Auckland on 2 June to allow member unions to vote on a private equity investment by US company Silver Lake, the final stage in the approval process for a landmark date. commercial transactions.

The deal, which values ​​New Zealand’s trading assets at NZ$3.5 billion (€2.1 billion), will see Silver Lake acquire 5.71% to 8.58% of a new business entity after an additional joint investment offered to New Zealand institutions later in the year.

The process is still controversial

The way to pass the renewed deal was cleared when NZR reached an agreement with its players in February. The vote was originally scheduled to take place at last month’s annual general meeting, but the county unions have asked for more time to study the details of the new deal. The New Zealand Football Association, whose finances have been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, believes they need to inject money to keep pace with Northern Hemisphere rugby forces that have already entered into equity agreements.

However, the deal remains controversial, with some New Zealanders rejecting the idea of ​​any level of foreign ownership of the iconic All Blacks brand.