Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert to buy stake in Springbok rugby?
In a shock move, the ‘Rainbow Consortium’, made up of local businessmen and international investors, has tabled an offer to buy into SA Rugby and the Springbok brand.
In another fresh twist in the tale of SA Rugby’s ongoing equity saga, a number of influential business people have expressed interest in coming on board as commercial partner of the governing body and thus Springbok rugby.
Towards the end of last year the SA Rugby (SARU) rejected a proposal to accept a potential private equity investment in SA Rugby’s commercial rights, with an offer from overseas bidder, the Ackerley Sports Group, failing to reach the 75 percent majority required.
The fallout from that collapsed transaction was messy, with majority of local rugby unions and/or franchises accusing SA Rugby of acting in bad faith and short-changing itself at the time in order to appease the Ackerley Sports Group.
INFLUENTIAL FIGURES LAUNCH BID TO BUY INTO SPRINGBOK AND SA RUGBY
Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert, Marco Massotti, and Johan le Roux, who are shareholders of the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers respectively, have joined forces in a bid to acquire a 20% stake in SA Rugby’s commercial rights.
According to News24, the three local unions submitted a letter to SA Rugby president Mark Alexander, chief executive Rian Oberholzer and its executive committee on 4 February.
Additionally, the letter was also sent to every president of South Africa’s 14 professional rugby unions in the name of transparency and for their input.
The signatories of the letter Stephen Saad and Marco Masotti (on behalf of the Sharks), Jannie Durand and Johan van Zyl (on behalf of the Blue Bulls), and Johan le Roux and Bruce MacRobert (on behalf of the Stormers) have been tasked entering into negotiations with SA Rugby, should this prospective deal advance to the next stage.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS LATEST TWIST IN THE EQUITY SAGA?
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