KKR to Acquire Arctos Partners in Deal Valuing Sports Investor at Up to $1.5bn
21 hours ago
KKR has agreed to acquire Arctos Partners, the specialist sports and secondaries investment firm, in a transaction valuing the business at approximately $1 billion, with performance-based incentives that could increase the valuation to as much as $1.5 billion.
Under the agreement, Arctos’ senior leadership team, led by co-founder Ian Charles, will remain in place and continue to run the business. Charles and other senior executives will retain their existing carried interest and will also receive equity in KKR as part of the transaction.
Founded as one of the earliest institutional investors focused exclusively on professional sport, Arctos manages around $15 billion in assets and holds minority stakes across major US professional leagues, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS, as well as a growing portfolio of international assets. The firm has also built a sizeable secondaries platform, providing liquidity solutions for existing sports owners.
KKR will acquire Arctos using its balance sheet, with the business integrated into KKR’s asset management division. The transaction remains subject to approvals from US professional sports leagues, which will review the deal to ensure compliance with ownership rules and to mitigate potential conflicts of interest, including those related to athlete endorsements involving KKR portfolio companies.
Arctos currently has exposure across all five major US professional leagues and several international competitions. Its portfolio includes minority stakes in franchises such as the Golden State Warriors, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Sacramento Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Red Sox, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Wild and San Diego Padres, as well as international assets including Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool FC, Atalanta BC and Aston Martin Racing.
The total value of Arctos’ ownership interests across its global sports portfolio exceeds $15 billion, underlining the growing institutional appetite for sports as a differentiated asset class and KKR’s continued expansion beyond traditional private equity strategies.