By Elvira Pollina and Amy-Jo Crowley
MILAN/LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) – Aser Ventures, the investment vehicle led by Italian businessman and former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, could sell part of its minority stake in sports streaming platform DAZN as it looks for ways to finance its expansion plans.
“We are exploring a range of options, from pure financing to hybrid solutions and equity investments,” Radrizzani, who sits on DAZN’s board, told Reuters.
He said Aser would prefer partnering with “funds or family offices, particularly those that already have exposure to the sports-tech sector.”
“We could use all or part of Aser’s stake in DAZN to finance Aser’s expansion through debt, hybrid instruments or equity. As a result, our stake in DAZN could be reduced,” he added.
Aser became a shareholder in DAZN when the sports streaming company bought smaller rival ELEVEN Group in 2023.
That deal handed Aser, which controlled ELEVEN, a stake of around 5% in DAZN, a holding valued at around $400 million at the time.
The stake became smaller over time due to a number of capital increases at DAZN, Radrizzani said, declining to disclose the current size of the holding or its value.
“Our goal is to explore strategic and financial partnerships to expand Aser’s investments in the increasingly dynamic and fast-growing sports and technology sectors,” he said, adding that discussions with potential investors were under way.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan and Amy-Jo Crowley in London; Editing by Valentina Za)
