U.S. private equity group Arctos Partners has acquired a minority common equity stake in French champions Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday.
A source told ESPN that Arctos would buy a 12.5% stake, which values PSG at €4 billion ($4.32bn), a record-high valuation for a French football club.
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PSG said Arctos’ investment will go towards growing the club’s operations and supporting their real estate initiatives, including the stadium and training centre.
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which bought PSG in 2011, will continue to have full control of the club and its decision-making.
Arctos will be a non-controlling owner and will not have any influence on any on-field sporting matters, PSG said in a statement.
“As a club and institution, we are entering the next exciting phase of PSG’s growth and development, both on and off the pitch — which is based on long-term ambitions and attaining excellence in everything we do,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said.
“Arctos is a fantastic partner to help us achieve our goals, bringing strategic expertise, ideas and innovation to our business, while providing investment and new relationships to support our footballing and sporting goals.”
PSG have won nine Ligue 1 titles since QSI took over the club. They have a four-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 after 14 games this season.
Last month, the Aston Martin Formula One team said it had agreed to an investment by Arctos in exchange for a minority shareholding, which valued the racing group at around $1.24 billion.
ESPN’s Julien Laurens contributed to this report
