Landing a multi-million-rand international sponsorship for Springbok rugby could be seen as the saving grace for the future of the sport when the South African Rugby Union’s (SARU) Executive Committee on Thursday reports back to its General Council why the plug on the option of selling a percentage of it shares to an equity partner has been pulled.
After a SARU Exco meeting over the weekend in Hermanus, reports surfaced that the union will be making a U-turn on seeking an alternative equity partner after a proposed deal to sell a 20% stake to United States investment firm Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) for $75 million (R1,4 Billion) fell through.
SARU needed a 75% majority vote to pass the ASG deal, but a majority of its provincial unions voted against it after raising concerns over its structure.
One of the concerns from the majority of provincial unions was the 15% third-party payment that SARU had to make to Jordan & Associates for facilitating the deal. This payment is now under dispute, as the firm said it only expected between 2.5% and 3% for setting up the deal.
According to Rapport, the third-party payment is being investigated by SA-based accounting firm Ernst & Young while this website has also confidentially heard that SARU could be recalled to a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport to provide answers on the scuppered deal with ASG.
And, after the weekend’s SARU Exco meeting in Hermanus, Telecom Asia Sport heard exclusively from an insider that the focus on getting a big-time international sponsor on board is high on SARU’s priority list while a final decision on axing the future pursuit of an equity partner could be announced at Thursday’s General Council Meeting in Johannesburg.
There are however two more offers to buy a stake in SARU from locally based businessmen with Altvest chief executive officer, Warren Wheatley, telling Rapport:
We are still very interested in pursuing a supporter and player ownership model for SA Rugby. We are unable to submit an official offer as we need access to more details to make a binding offer.
Well-known businessmen Patrice Motsepe and Johan van Zyl of African Rainbow Capital (ARC), are also being touted as possible investors with ARC already owning shares in the Boland Rugby Union as well as the Bulls.
