US soccer franchise Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) has finally sold Swiss soccer heavyweights Grasshopper Club Zürich, the side it purchased in 2024, after over two years of controversy.
Bridge Football Group, the multi-club soccer investment group that owns lower-tier sides in the Netherlands, Italy, and China, has acquired the 96.47% majority stake held by LAFC, a move that completely divests the US ownership from the club.
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The sale process was managed by Markham Capital and Sports Advisory (MCSA), the exclusive sell-side advisor, which said in a press release that over a dozen “credible” bidders came forward in the process.
Grasshopper Zürich are the record 27-time champions of the top-flight Swiss Super League.
Since the LAFC takeover, however, the club has been nailed to the 11th placed spot in the 12-team league, only narrowly surviving relegation by play-off in each of the last three seasons.
This led to significant acrimony from the club’s fans, who protested throughout LAFC’s reign, most notably in April 2026, after defeat in the semi-final of the Swiss Cup by second-tier minnows Lausanne Ouchy, after which LAFC relented, and stated that they would engage in sale discussions, which have now borne fruit.
In a statement published on the club’s website, LAFC said it was divesting from Grasshopper to focus on its other European soccer investment, Austrian second-tier side FC Wacker Innsbruck, which it acquired in April 2023.
LAFC president and general manager John Thorrington, who had been president of Grasshopper, said: “Building a sustainable global football network requires constant evaluation and deliberate focus.”
“As we looked at the future of LAFC’s international footprint, it became clear that consolidating our resources and fully dedicating our European efforts to FC Wacker Innsbruck is the right path forward.”
After years of ownership tumult (Grasshopper was previously owned by Chinese news anchor Jinyuan Wang after falling into the second tier in 2019), the club and its fans will likely hope that stability in the boardroom can help to ameliorate the on-pitch situation, and commercial, that it can attract sponsors again that are attracted by the historic stature of the club.
MCSA principal Tom Markham commented on the sale: “The strong level of interest throughout the sale process demonstrates the continued attractiveness of well-positioned football assets to high-quality international investors and reflects the growing maturity of the global football investment market.”
For Bridge Football, the club’s new owners, Grasshopper represents the most prominent of its sports investments thus far.
The group is also invested in Dutch second-tier side FC Den Boch, Chinese second-tier team Shaanxi Union, and Italian third-tier team Pro Vercelli 1892.
At the time of the initial sale announcement in April, LAFC pointed to a lack of profitability at the team as a driver behind the sale aspirations.
The US investors said that further external funding was required to stop Grasshopper falling into insolvency, stating: “the financial reality remains that [Grasshopper's] running costs continue to exceed its current revenues, and the club depends on ongoing external support to compete in professional football."
