EQT has purchased at 80% stake in Australian National Rugby League club Melbourne Storm in a deal that values the club at US$106M. Getty Images
Swedish private equity group EQT has “taken a majority stake” in the National Rugby League’s Melbourne Storm — a club previously owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited — in a deal that values the club at US$106M. It is EQT’s “first direct investment in a sports team as it increases exposure to the sports market.” The firm also bought IMG Academy in 2023 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 8/19). EQT has purchased 80% of the Storm, which had been “exploring a potential buyer for the past year and had fielded more than 50 expressions of interest, including overtures from global corporations” in the U.S., U.K. and China (Melbourne HERALD SUN, 8/19).