Premiership make decision on CVC investment proposal

Premiership owners have turned down an £275m offer from CVC Capital Partners for a controlling stake in Premiership Rugby.

It had been rumoured that it would be turned down with clubs believing the Premiership is worth far more and were wary of ceding control to a fund which used to own Formula 1.

The Board met on Tuesday to discuss the proposal and in a statement issued this evening the Premiership said. “The Board of Premiership Rugby had a scheduled meeting today which among other things considered options to support the next phase of growth for Club rugby in England.

Gallagher Premiership Rugby and the associated Premiership Rugby business has shown strong growth as its domestic and international appeal has continued to broaden, providing the backdrop for discussions to bring a new injection of investment into the game.

Audiences last season on BT Sport grew by 11% and that rise has continued this season. The competition is now shown in 200 countries and with Gallagher as title partner and the first-ever match on the NBC network (as opposed to NBC Sports) next month, there is a rapidly growing following in the US.

“Premiership Rugby has seen very good growth over the last five years with revenues rising more than 80% – so the desire to accelerate that growth and expand internationally was reaffirmed by all clubs today,” said Premiership Rugby chairman, Ian Ritchie.

“We had a very positive Board discussion and considered a range of alternatives to accelerate investment in the Club game. The Board was unanimous on how to proceed and agreed that selling a majority stake was not the preferred option.

“We shall now develop these options further with our advisors and the interested parties ahead of the next Board meeting.”

In other news: Rassie Erasmus discusses future