Town have allayed fears that the club’s ownership is looking to sell a controlling stake in the Blues.
Last night, Brett Johnson, one of the Three Lions element of Gamechanger 20 Ltd, which took over Town in 2021, sent out a mailshot, received by some fans, which appeared to indicate that the controlling stake in the club was up for sale.
However, the Blues have dismissed the suggestion of changes in the ownership with Johnson instead looking to attract further lower level investors with the same people remaining in control of the investment funds which own Gamechanger and in turn the club itself.
Those funds are ORG, which manages the interest of PSPRS, the Arizona police and fire services’ pension fund, the Three Lions and Bright Path Sports Partners, who bought around 40 per cent of the pension fund’s stake just over a year ago.
The pension fund is open to reducing its stake further via additional investment but with the ownership situation remaining unchanged.
Johnson’s email targets between £184 million and £214 million to become part of the existing controlling group with the club valued at £375 million.
Fans seeing the email were also concerned that it referred to "up to £100 million+ in player sale proceeds” expected this summer, however, this figure refers to the potential value within the squad rather than any plans to cash-in on the squad.
The Email
Dear X
Hope this finds you well! Building on the success of our growing sports ecosystem, I am delighted to share our latest and greatest investment opportunity. Three Lions Capital has negotiated the rights to acquire a controlling interest in one of the premier football clubs in England.
English football clubs continually prove to be a strong and scalable asset class, largely due to the impressive global audience and the ability for the clubs to monetize their IP. This investment is not a bet on media rights, rather it is a unique opportunity to invest in a club which focuses on creating monetary value through several levers, which gives us confidence that the business model will drive significant returns. Below is a high-level summary of the opportunity.
Highly Favorable Investment Terms:
Total capital raise of between £184M and £214M to acquire a majority stake at an enterprise value of £375M
There is significant downside protection, as if the club is not promoted by the 2026/27 season, the valuation resets to £325M (£50 million reduction at the Enterprise Value)
The investment will be spread across 5 equal payments, with only 20% of the total amount up front and the rest over a 4-year period, significantly increasing IRR and overall returns
Proven Success:
The club achieved back-to-back promotions to Premier League and currently competes in Championship League.
Strong Financial Position:
Up to £100M+ in player sale proceeds and £56M in parachute payments expected this summer, all of which provided maximum balance sheet flexibility.
The club achieved significantly positive EBITDA during 2024-2025 season
Operational Excellence:
Led by an elite CEO and coaching staff who’ve built the #1 club in Europe in player value creation (according to Transfermarkt the club had the highest player value increase in any European club during 2024-2025 season)
The club will also soon be awarded Category One status (the highest level of youth academy classification under the Elite Player Performance Plan in English football) imminently.
Best-in-class Player Development:
A new state of the art training center is being developed, there is a heavy focus on the growth of the women’s team, and significant investment is being made to shift to a data-centered recruitment approach. The women’s team just achieved promotion.
Attractive Exit Potential:
Targeting a £1B valuation in by the 2030/31 season based on a 3.3x revenue multiple, which is in line with similar English clubs
This would yield a 2.96x gross MOIC & 38.66% gross IRR, which is significantly boosted by the 5 payments over 4 years structure
This investment will be facilitated through Three Lions Capital - Our fund charges 2% management fee and 20% carried interest on returns exceeding an 8% hurdle rate.
Please let us know if you have interest in this opportunity and we will connect you to the club, who will provide the NDA, and subsequently share the relevant material for your review which includes a larger deck detailing the opportunity.
Best Regards,
Brett Johnson
Three Lions Capital