Benfica become latest top European club, and first in Portugal, to secure US investment with minority sale
Portuguese giants Benfica have become the last football team to receive American investments with Lenore Sports Partners (LSP) is now finalizing its purchase of a 5.24% stake in the Lisbon club.
Jean-Marc CHAPUS, co-founder of the Crescent Capital Investment Capital Company, is the principal among the investor quartet who bought participation in what is the first case of American investment in a Portuguese part. In a Blackbridge Sports LLC press release, which connected LSP with the Benfica portfolio company in 2022, said that new minority owners “will play a central role in strengthening the international presence of Benfica, in particular on the strategically important American market”.
Benfica ranks among the most prosperous clubs in Portugal and, in fact, with a record of 38 national league titles and two European cups won in 1961 and 1962. In recent decades, they have established themselves as one of the major sport talent factories, bringing that Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez and Darwin NuNEz, before selling them back.
“The realization of this transaction was not without challenges,” said Alexander Jarvis de Blackbridge, adding that he had been “a particularly complex affair to conclude.
“Benfica is a world center in players’ development, having generated more than 1.5 billion euros ($ 1.7 billion) in transfer sales since 2000 – but it remains considerably undervalued. Blackbridge is proud to have created this opportunity and has aligned the LSP with such a legendary institution. We are convinced that this new partnership will support the continuous growth of Benfica on and out of the field.”
Chapus, which sits on the advisory council of Milwaukee Brewers (owned by its co-founder of Crescent Capital Mark Attanasio), is joined by Elliot Hayes and Omar Imtiaz. Hayes is a former investor in the French side Nice and becomes one of the first African-American investors in two best European clubs. Imtiaz was also part of the Nice hierarchy before its sale in Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The investment would be worth between $ 20.8 million and $ 23.1 million (18 million euros at 20 million euros). More than three percent of the participation has been guaranteed by the equity auctions which are listed on the stock market on the Portuguese stock market.
What it means for Benfica
The investment comes at an important time for Benfica, who pushed Sporting Close but finally failed in the race for the Portuguese title last season. This will mean that Bruno Lage’s team had to qualify to access the riches that come with an involvement in the Champions League phase, estimated at around $ 50 million at least. Last season’s race at the 16 -year -old final would have been $ 80 million.
There is also the question of how Benfica adapts to the particularly competitive market of South American talents. Estadio da Luz has long established itself as a bridge point for players who were moving from Argentina and Brazil with a eye on a future decision of the Liga or the Premier League. This turned out to be extremely lucrative for Benfica, the $ 1.7 billion jarvis notes above often coming from players who had been brought across the Atlantic for a few million.
Angel Di Maria, David Luiz and Ramires have been among the first players to follow this path in recent years, they have been followed by Fernandez. Gianluca Prestianni, once compared to Lionel Messi, could be the next one, but Benfica must now fight with the kinds of teams they sold their young stars.
Real Madrid spent a lot to bring Franco Mastanuono and Endrick directly to Spain, as Barcelona made it with less success in the case of Vitor Roque. The Premier League is also fighting for talents in South America, Willian Estevao going from Palmeiras to Chelsea and Claudio Echeverri from River Plate to Manchester City in 2024, because Julian Alvarez had been two years earlier.
It should be noted that out of the three Argentines on their list last season, the first season was Prestianni and two, Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi, were veterans returning to Portugal at the back of their careers. Benfica retains an extraordinarily productive academy, from which Antonio Silva seems to be the next breakout star, but they already seem to adapt to the new reality of the market. Sharupled in Brazilian and Argentinian acquisitions familiar in the past two seasons are players from Turkey, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany. Perhaps in the years to come, this will be considered another case of Benfica, ahead of the market. What is clear at the moment is that Portuguese giants must adapt to competition.
