Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur can still boast some of the wealthiest owners in England despite a £100m takeover of Southampton being signed-off. The Saints confirmed that Sport Republic, a company funded by Serbian tycoon Dragan Solak and which also involves ex-Brentford director Rasmus Ankersen and Henrik Kraft, a London-based investor and chairman of Sport Republic, now have a controlling stake in the south coast outfit, with previous owner Gao Jisheng having relinquished his ownership.
Dragon Solak said: “My partners and I have experience in long-term investments in the sports and entertainment industry and Sport Republic has been founded to combine this expertise and deliver something unique to the market. Southampton has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organisation. It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football and a dedicated fan base. We are delighted to be able to complete this acquisition as a first step towards execution of our investment strategy. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organisation we plan to build.”
With confirmation of the deal, Saints fans will no doubt be excited at the prospect of more investment – especially after seeing a similar takeover completed at Newcastle United earlier this season.
