Johann Rupert’s big plan
A consortium including South Africa’s richest person, Johann Rupert, is in discussions about becoming an equity partner in SA Rugby.
Rapport reported that Rupert, Sharks owner Marco Masotti, and DHL Stormers CEO Johan le Roux have officially started discussions with SA Rugby.
Schalk Burger Senior, a friend of Rupert’s and a director of Boland Rugby, is also involved in the group.
These discussions follow a controversial offer by US private equity firm Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) last year to purchase a 20% stake in SA Rugby for R1.3 billion ($75 million).
The proposal failed to reach the 75% majority required for such a transaction to be approved after seven of the 13 member unions with voting rights opposed it.
Ackerley, identified by the members as the preferred bidder in December 2023, has an exclusivity period until the end of 2024 to make a revised offer.
The company has not made a revised offer within the exclusivity period, giving other consortiums, such as Rupert’s, the chance to bid for an equity stake.
SA Rugby told Parliament late last year that it faces collapse if it fails to increase revenue and raise capital from private equity firms.
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie and rugby unions questioned the Ackerley offer because it did not benefit South African rugby and because there was no local participation in the proposal.
Bloomberg reported that SA Rugby has barely turned a profit for over a decade and needs cash injection to stabilise its finances and create a reserve fund.
SA Rugby has been trying to clinch a private equity deal since 2018. Its executives told lawmakers this week that the company generates about 90% of its revenue from the Springboks brand and franchise competitions.
Almost half of the national team’s matches are played overseas, and South Africa’s weak currency puts it at a disadvantage when competing against rivals.
This makes it increasingly difficult to retain top players lured by lucrative contracts from French and English rugby clubs.

Rupert’s efforts to buy a stake in SA Rugby will likely meet strong resistance, with Ackerley saying it will make another bid and a rival South African consortium entering the fray.
Late in 2024, a consortium including AltVest Capital, EasyEquities, 27four Investment Managers and RainFin expressed interest in buying up to 40% of SA Rugby’s equity rights.
The consortium sent a letter to the governing body outlining its plans to bid R6.7 billion for the rights through a Saru Commercial Rights Company.
It said it plans to democratise investing in the Springboks by giving ordinary South Africans the chance to buy shares in the brand through the AltVest platform.
Earlier this month, Ackerley said it would launch another bid for a 20% equity stake in SA Rugby.
In a statement on 6 January, it said it would work with a professional adviser and engage with “any approved South African consortium” to revive the deal.
“ASG remains confident that its strategic value-creation plan should and will be part of any new proposal,” Chris and Ted Ackerley, the brothers who founded ASG, said.
Ackerley wants to ensure that “any future plan is both effective and takes into account the needs of the member unions”.
Rugby unions owned in part by Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe, and Aspen founder Stephen Saad were among those who opposed Ackerley’s initial proposal.
“This vote derailed the efforts that we have made to globalise and commercialise the Springboks,” ASG said. “Furthermore, and importantly, this result has placed SARU back into financial peril.”
ASG, which said it had offered to include 50% South African involvement in its final proposal, indicated that McKenzie supports its continued involvement.
“We must find ways to actually engage and partner with well-capitalized financial institutions – who know the business of sports – to bring our great teams and athletes to the international sports landscape,” McKenzie was cited as saying in the ASG statement.
“The Ackerley Sports Group has shown, in their efforts to partner with SARU and its members, the insight and financial expertise our sports teams and leaders need.”
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