The French team from the international sailing series SailGP has completed its ownership group after selling the team’s final stake to US private equity firm Ares Management, investors in a range of high-profile sports teams.
Ares, through its sports, media, and entertainment fund, has led the acquisition of the final 25% stake in SailGP’s French team, with Sportsology Capital Partners also joining.
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SailGP retained that 25% stake after selling majority ownership earlier this year to a group including sailing team operator K-Challenge, French hospitality brand Accor, and French soccer star Kylian Mbappé’s Coalition Capital.
With the final holding sold, the French team becomes the first SailGP team to become entirely privately owned.
SailGP still maintains minority stakes in teams Australia, Brazil, and Italy, which have all been sold to new investors over the last year.
Asset management firm Mubadala Capital launched a Brazilian side last June, while the Italian team was sold to a consortium led by venture capital fund Muse, which also includes actor Anne Hathaway.
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By GlobalDataEarlier this month, the Australian team was bought by actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, meanwhile.
The acquisition adds to Ares Management’s growing portfolio of high-profile sports investments, which includes English Premier League soccer team Chelsea, the McLaren Formula 1 motor racing team, and American football’s Miami Dolphins NFL franchise.
The private equity firm was also involved in Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor’s takeover of French soccer club Lyon, via his Eagle Football vehicle.
Jim Miller, co-lead of Ares’ Sports, Media, and Entertainment Strategy, has said: “SailGP has achieved impressive growth across its teams, viewership, and engagement, and we are thrilled to enter the league and join the France SailGP Team’s existing owners’ group at this inflection point.
“With the team’s expanding ecosystem of dedicated athletes, sponsors, and fans, alongside Ares’ experience investing in premier global sports teams, we are eager to lend our capabilities as the team continues to build on its momentum.”
In April, SailGP revealed the first details of the calendar for its 2026 season, with a slate of multi-year hosting agreements seeing the return of popular existing locales and new host venues.
Next year's competition will be contained entirely within the 2026 calendar, with an 11-month fixture schedule that will begin in January in Perth, Australia – a brand-new location for the series. Previous seasons have competed across the new year.
For the first time, SailGP will adopt a regional format that will group together races by geography into different legs of the season.
