Bloomberg quotes Richard Davies on the relationships between football clubs and their investors and shareholders

Cryptocurrency company Tether recently became the second-largest shareholder of major European football club Juventus, with a 10.7% stake worth roughly €128 million.

Some commentators suggest that Tether is now seeking a board seat at the club along with a potential capital raise. Tether CEO Pailo Ardoino has made public comments about the channels of communication between Tether and Juventus, explaining that communication has for the most part been 'very limited'. 

Ardoino is now reportedly considering whether to buy more Juventus shares in the future, stating that Tether wants to "help" the club and ensure its long-term success.

In an article, Bloomberg explores Tether's shareholding and these recent developments. The piece notes that cryptocurrency companies have "spent heavily on sponsorships across European football", seeking to tap the sport’s access to new retail traders at a time when digital assets are booming and "gambling-linked partnerships are on the decline". 

Richard Davies, Partner in our Commercial team and Head of Sport, explains that while an investor taking a 10% stake in a privately-held football club might expect to negotiate a board seat, perks, or other financial dealings directly with the firm, the talks may differ when those shares were acquired publicly.

He continues:

It does depend certainly on the level of shareholding, and as you go up, the more rights you’d expect to get and the more input into decision making, or indeed control [...] It would be fairly typical for investor at that sort of level in a private company to be expecting either a board seat or an observer seat.

Read the full article in Bloomberg here (subscription required).