Ipswich Town Sells £105m Stake
EFL Championship football club Ipswich Town FC has sold a 40% ownership stake worth ‘up to £105m’ to US private equity fund Bright Path Sports Partners.
New investment sees ORG reduce its majority share from 90% to 50%. The US investment fund set up Gamechanger Ltd to acquire the club from Marcus Evans in 2021.
As per the agreement, Bright Sports investors Sam Simon and Jake Zahnow now join Ipswich’s board of directors.
Meanwhile, CEO Mark Ashton will continue to oversee day to day operations at Portman Road, and joins Gamechanger’s board.
American investors Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmer, whose Three Lions fund owns a 5% share of the club, have also ‘significantly increased’ their investment in Ipswich.
Former majority owner Evans holds the remaining 5% stake.
Ed Schwatrz, co-founder of ORG and majority shareholder of Ipswich Town, said, “When we purchased Ipswich Town in 2021, we did so with the initial aim of restoring the club to the Championship and becoming competitive at this level, with the plan always including bringing a partner on board when the time was right.
“The club’s progress means we feel that time is now and we are excited to welcome Bright Path Sports.
“Alongside the continued day-to-day leadership of Mark Ashton, who we are delighted has further committed his future to the club, we look forward to Bright Path bringing significant value to Ipswich Town in the coming years.”
Bright Path Sports co-founder, Jake Zahnow added, “We are here to provide capital while offering our input whenever Mark [Ashton] and Ed [Schwartz] need it, but first-and-foremost our job is to support them whenever it is required.
“Mark and the team at Ipswich have an in-depth knowledge and vast experience of running football clubs and we love the direction the club is moving in, while being excited for the future.”
Ipswich currently sit third in the Championship table, and will be hopeful that fresh funding can propel the Suffolk club to the Premier League.
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