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A four-way merger is to create a significant new football agency that represents some of the leading players in Europe, continuing the wave of deals in the sports and talent representation industry.
Bruin Capital, a New York-based investment firm led by former IMG Sports & Entertainment president George Pyne, and private equity company TJC are backing the creation of the agency branded As1. It will bring together three acquisitions in Nomi Sports, Position Number and Promoesport, with Bruin also set to buy Football Division Worldwide to add a fourth to the new entity.
The London-based company will represent about 300 players, include top English Premier League talent in Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Liverpool’s Luis Díaz and Moisés Caicedo of Chelsea. As1 will also have clients in Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and the German Bundesliga among others.
The deal values the combined group at $310mn by enterprise value, which includes debt, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
According to Bruin, As1 will leap into the top 10 largest football agencies, based on the roughly €700mn market value of its players, using figures from data website Transfermarkt.
Ignacio Aguillo, a former banker who held a senior role at Atlético Madrid in Spain, has been installed as As1 chief executive.
He told the Financial Times that football had evolved from the days when all-powerful managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson dominated decisions about buying and selling players, pointing to the proliferation of recruitment specialists at clubs.
“You need to understand and be able to navigate all that,” Aguillo said. “I would argue that the ‘old guard’ is probably going to struggle with that shift.”
While investments in sports teams typically attract the most attention, there has also been a flurry of activity in the world of sports and talent agencies.
Prominent deals last year included the French billionaire Pinault family’s purchase of a majority stake in CAA, one of the leading agencies in football but also a major player in film, television and the wider media. CAA had already acquired ICM, the agency that had absorbed super-agent Jonathan Barnett’s Stellar Group.
Other deals have included the 2022 investment by Providence Equity Partners in Wasserman, another sports and entertainment agency. Wasserman went on to acquire Switzerland-based International Football Management. Hollywood agency Gersh on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Madrid-based sports and entertainment agency You First.
Agents play a critical role in the football transfer market, negotiating deals between players and clubs. The stakes are high for clubs because agents are the gatekeepers to the emerging and established stars who can give them an edge on the pitch.
According to Fifa, world football’s governing body, agents made more than $888mn from their role in international transfers in 2023, the highest sum on record. The figure excludes commission from transfers between clubs in the same country.
Although teams still command the loyalty of legions of football fans, social media has changed the nature of fandom and increased the power of the star players in particular. They typically now have large online followings, enabling them to develop and promote their own brands.
New business and media opportunities for athletes have also expanded their interests beyond the field of play, creating further opportunities for agents.
Pyne said the “creator economy” meant every athlete had the potential to become a “global brand”.
“With social and digital media, commercial opportunities today are more valuable than they might have been 10 years ago because these players are now brands themselves,” Pyne added. “You can’t run the sport without the players.”
As1 is part of a new holding company called Legion Sports that is solely backed by TJC and run by Bruin. Bruin said As1 was not backed by CVC Capital Partners, which has financing deals with La Liga and France’s Ligue 1. CVC and Bruin have a separate partnership.
