Ares Makes Sports Hires in London After Chelsea, Atletico Deals

(Bloomberg) — After striking deals involving Atletico de Madrid and Chelsea FC, Ares Management Corp. is expanding its sports, media and entertainment team with four hires in London.

Jeevan Sagoo and Patrick Souki have joined the firm as managing directors, while Ardeshir Sorabjee and David O’Connor have joined as principals, according to an emailed statement. They all join from AcePoint Capital, a private-credit platform dedicated to sports media and entertainment investing. 

The new recruits will be the first time Ares has staff dedicated to sports and entertainment in Europe. The firm has a team of about 30 individuals that focus on the strategy, with its credit or real estate teams also getting involved in the transactions. 

“In Europe, we had a couple of our partners that have credit experience and credit background sitting in the investment committee and through their personal network had created some opportunities,” said Mark Affolter, partner and co-head of US direct lending at Ares, in a phone interview. “Having more of a significant physical presence in the region should allow us to have more opportunities.”

In 2021, Ares took a 34% stake in Spanish first division football club Atletico de Madrid, and last year struck a $500 million debt deal with Chelsea FC. Globally, the firm also sees opportunities in the North American sports leagues, not only in the professional ones but also in amateur and youth sports, according to Affolter.

“We’re starting to see private equity interest in youth and amateur sports, which increases the demand for the kind of capital that we provide,” he said. 

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