After previously exploring the sale of a minority stake in the Eagles franchise, Sports Business Journal is reporting that two families have each agreed to acquire small stakes in the franchise in deals that raised the team’s value to just north of $8.1 billion.
The new investors will hold 8% of the club, once NFL owners approve the transactions.
The family trust of Ed Peskowitz, founder of United Communications Group and a former co-owner of the NBA’s Hawks, will take a 4.75% stake in a deal led by his children, Zachary Peskowitz and Olivia Suter. Susan Kim, chairman of the board of semiconductor company Amkor Technology, would buy 3.25% through a trust she created for her children, sources said.
Eagles majority owner Jeffrey Lurie, who would still control 85% of the team, is not currently planning to divest further, according to sources. Lurie, who bought control of the team in 1994 for $195M, has had small minority investors since the earliest days of his ownership, including Firstrust Bank Chairman and CEO Richard Green and Mike Michaelson, a longtime partner at KKR. Both sold part of their shares to the new investors in this deal as well.
The $8.1 billion figure represents a multiple of roughly 11-12 times revenue and would represent a record price tag for an NFL team.
Laurie has controlled the franchise since May 1994, when he acquired the Eagles from the infamous Norman Braman for a reported $185 million, a record for a sports team at the time.
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