Qatar Sports Investment (QSI), owner of French soccer champions Paris Saint Germain, has added Portugal’s SC Braga to its growing portfolio of sports investments after securing a minority stake in the top-tier Primeira Liga side.
SC Braga announced today (October 10) QSI had signed a share purchase agreement for a 21.67% stake in the club, with the deal expected to close in the next few months, subject to certain conditions.
Braga currently sits third in the Primera Liga table after nine games behind traditional powerhouses Benfica and Porto. Last season they finished fourth in the league and advanced to the quarter-final stage of the UEFA’s second-tier Europa League club competition.
Antonio Salvador, president of SC Braga, added: “SC Braga is delighted to welcome Qatar Sports Investments as an investor in our club.
“We believe that this is the right shareholder to accelerate our growth and expansion, helping us deliver on our amazing potential as a club.
“The extraordinary experience of Qatar Sports Investments – with its global expertise, acumen, and a track record of amazing results across sport and business – will bring enormous value and help us deliver on our ambitious plans.”
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By GlobalDataQSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi added: “QSI is proud to invest in leading sports businesses and brands around the world, enabling them to reach their full potential.
“Portugal is a country founded on football – with some of the most passionate fans and one of the best talent systems in the world. SC Braga is an exemplary Portuguese institution – with a proud history, enormous ambition, and a reputation for excellence on and off the pitch.
“As an investor and partner, we look forward to the club innovating, growing, and developing further – across the men’s and women’s teams, on the commercial and brand side, and across all the communities and businesses it supports – as SC Braga continues its ambitious path.”
QSI bought PSG in 2011 and has since used its substantial financial resources to turn the French club into a member of the European footballing elite.
Since its purchase, the club has won France's top-tier Ligue 1 in seven of the last eight seasons and regularly makes it through to the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League, European soccer’s biggest club competition. In total, they have won 29 trophies in their 11-year ownership of the club.
Braga becomes the third soccer club to be involved with QSI. The business group also holds an ownership stake in Belgian club KAS Eupen secured in 2012.