Powerleague To Invest £20m into Community Sports Facilities in London

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Powerleague Fives Ltd, the UK’s largest premier five-a-side football centre operator, has announced ambitious plans to invest £20 million into community sports facilities across London.

The investment will provide thousands of new opportunities for people of all ages to play sport and will be a significant boost to the ambitions of creating a real grassroots sports legacy from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Powerleague is inviting all stakeholders across London to consider where new investment into community sports facilities can make a difference to local communities – whether that is a new Powerleague centre with 10 pitches and pavilion, or refurbishing existing facilities that Powerleague will then operate under a usage agreement.

The investment is backed by the owners of Powerleague, Patron Capital Partners, who recently raised €880m for European acquisitions including a continued focus on targeting property-backed companies, including hotels, leisure-related businesses and healthcare.

The plans have been welcomed by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who said:

"After such a fantastic summer of sport it is vital that we build on the momentum of the Games and help more Londoners to get fit and active. By boosting community sports facilities, including the provision of free access, and by improving sporting opportunities for people of all ages, this investment by Powerleague will help to do just that. The initiative chimes perfectly with the work of my own sports legacy fund, which has helped thousands more Londoners get involved in sport."

Sport England is also backing the investment programme. The Chair of Sport England, Richard Lewis, commented:

“The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has put a spotlight on sport like never before. With more than 15 million people in England now playing sport each week, it’s important that we continue to invest in the right facilities in the right places and initiatives such as Powerleague’s will help us develop sport in areas where it is most needed. Through their funding, Powerleague will help create modern facilities that are accessible to everyone, helping people create a sporting habit for life.”

Sean Tracey, CEO of Powerleague, commented:

“Powerleague is fortunate to be in a unique position within the industry to have significant capital funds available to invest. We are looking forward to working with a range of partners including the London boroughs, secondary schools and voluntary organisations to achieve a step change in the accessibility of high quality facilities available within London. We have a very flexible model and encourage all potential new partners to come forward and talk to us about this exciting investment opportunity for their community.”

Notes to Editors

About Powerleague

• Powerleague is the UK’s largest premier five-a-side football centre operator.
• Powerleague centres have over 8 million customer visits per annum.
• Powerleague provides over 750 divisions around the country and over 6,000 league teams
• Its portfolio of 44 sites includes the 23 pitch Old Trafford Soccerdome, the largest five-a-side football centre in the world.
• Powerleague provides state-of-the-art facilities ideally suited to corporate hospitality events which can be heavily branded to suit sponsorship partners.
• Powerleague is committed to a programme of urban regeneration seeking out innovative new sites on un-used or brownfield locations generally with a population of 150,000 within a 20 minute drive.
• Powerleague already works closely with local authorities, property owners and developers to ensure that its centres fit well with its programme of urban regeneration.
• Further information on Lucozade Powerleague is available at www.powerleague.co.uk

About Patron Capital Partners

• Established in 1999, Patron Capital Partners has evolved into one of the leading opportunistic real estate managers in Europe.
• Since it was established, Patron Capital has invested in over 100 transactions across over 50 investments, involving approximately 40 million square feet in 13 countries, with many of these investments realised.
• Patron represents approx €2.4 billion of capital across several funds and related co-investments, from prominent universities, major institutions, private foundations, and high net worth individuals located throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
• The investment advisers to Fund IV are Patron Capital Advisers LLP and Patron Capital Europe sarl, based in London and Luxemburg respectively and Patron Capital has other offices in Barcelona, Milan, Dreieich (Germany) and Luxemburg.
• The above organisation includes a 71 person in-house team, consisting of 40 investment professionals averaging 14 years of real estate experience and an additional 31 individuals with significant long-term experience focused on legal, tax, finance and administration.
• Its strategy is to back local partners and management teams in growing their respective business, investing in property, corporate operating entities whose value is primarily supported by property assets and distressed debt and credit related businesses.
• Patron is very active in a variety of community based charities throughout the UK including The Prince’s Teaching Institute (Prince’s Trust) which provides resources to state school teachers and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, with a specific focus on the disabled members of the Armed Services.
• Further information about Patron Capital is available at www.patroncapital.com

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