Ruglup hopes to sell stake in Wallabies

As it gets ready for key international games including the 2029 World Cup and to promote the growth of women's rugby, Bloomberg Australia plans to start the search for new investors as soon as possible in the next two weeks.

According to Andy Marinos, the football league will target overseas private equity firms that have investments in other sports franchises, and will sound out interest in a stake of as much as 20%. Rugby Australia has spoken to key stakeholders, including the players association and the member clubs, about their preferences for potential investors, he said.

The game was in a dangerous position when we went through the doldrums of Covid, he said in an interview on Friday. We need to make sure we don't get to that position again. Any stake sale would see the Australian squad join other iconic rugby teams in rugby with backing from foreign investors. CVC Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in Rugby South Africa in 2022, the parent of the Springboks side. Six Nations Rugby, which oversees Europe's main rugby tournament, also sold a stake to CVC in 2021, while North American League Major League Rugby began exploring a capital raise, Bloomberg News reported this month.

New Zealand Rugby is looking at the proposed sale of as much as NZ $100 million $63 million of shares in its commercial operations to local institutions, which would give them a stake in the business of the iconic All Blacks brand.

Rugby Australia, the owner of the Wallabies, hasn't decided how much it wants from the stake sale, as it depends on the offers, Marinos said.

He said that we want to secure the future of the game from any future events but also that we are on the cusp of a golden decade, citing a calendar of international tours, Commonwealth and Olympic games and hosting the eleventh World Cup.