Global investment holding company Tennor has completed a deal to acquire a stake in the Global Champions Tour (GCT) and Global Champions League (GCL) equestrian series from US businessman Frank McCourt following the resolution of legal issues regarding the sale.
Tennor, which was founded by German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst, agreed to take over the shareholding of McCourt Global in January. McCourt is the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball franchise and currently owns French Ligue 1 football club Olympique Marseille. He purchased a 50-per-cent stake in the Global Champions Tour in June 2014.
Windhorst is an investor in German Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, having paid €125m ($135m) for a 37.5-per-cent stake. In November, he increased his stake in the club to 49.9 per cent.
The deal between Tennor and McCourt Global had been held up after it was reported that Windhorst was looking to step away from the agreement as a number of GCT events were cancelled following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Last week, it was reported by Dutch broadcaster RTL that McCourt Global did not approve of Windhorst’s plan to abandon the deal, taking legal action in the Netherlands to ensure the agreement would be honoured.
It has now been announced that McCourt Global and Tennor Group have reached an “amicable outcome” regarding the purchase of the former’s stake in the two competitions.
Jan Tops, founder and president of the GCT and co-founder of the GCL alongside McCourt, said: “I am happy to confirm agreement has been reached for our new partnership. Our business is in good shape and strong as it has always been, pandemic notwithstanding, and all team owners and other key stakeholders are fully committed. We will continue to build on our innovation roadmap and the global success of our circuit. We will go forwards not backwards.”
It has previously been reported that the price of the 50-per-cent stake would be €169m.
