Lander & Rogers' corporate transactions team has advised a syndicate led by family office Wollemi Capital Group (Wollemi Syndicate) on its acquisition of a majority interest in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), as part of a consortium with the National Basketball League (NBL).
The new ownership structure will come into effect on 2 April 2025, with the WNBL to be jointly run by the Wollemi Syndicate and the NBL. Basketball Australia will retain a minority interest.
The investment marks a new era in women's basketball in Australia, with the WNBL's new owners bringing fresh capital and a new strategic direction intended to secure the future success of the league.
Partner Deanna Constable, who led the legal aspects of the syndicate's role in the transaction with fellow partner Paul Mayson and senior associate Douglas Brown, congratulated Wollemi Syndicate on its investment. "Following a competitive bidding process, we're delighted to see our client Wollemi Capital Group and the NBL poised to lead one of Australia's oldest women's professional leagues and advance the WNBL in its next stage of innovation and growth."
Ms Constable noted that the sports sector had attracted strong investor interest in the last 12 months in Australia and internationally. "A growing number of asset managers, from private equity firms to private investors, are looking to the sport and leisure industry to deploy pent-up capital in quality assets with significant growth potential," Ms Constable said. "This has considerable potential to redefine our sporting landscape, particularly in the women's leagues."
The transaction is one of a string of recent acquisitions by Wollemi Capital Group as it bolsters its portfolio of businesses and ventures that deliver positive impacts to Australian communities. In 2022, the family office made a significant investment in Hoops Capital Pty Ltd, the holding company that has licence to and runs the Sydney Flames WNBL team and the Sydney Kings NBL team.
Understanding the intricacies of the sport and leisure sector and its major players ─ both on and off the court ─ was "key to achieving successful outcomes for investors", said Amelia Lynch, partner and head of Lander & Rogers' Sport & Leisure group, who worked with the deal team that advised Wollemi Capital Group on its investment in Hoops Capital and now provides commercial and governance support to Hoops Capital.
"Asset managers looking to enter the market or expand their portfolio in this space will benefit from multidisciplinary advice from legal experts who can navigate deal dynamics as well as the commercial and legal realities facing sports administrators and operators," said Ms Lynch. "This is where the joint expertise of Lander & Rogers' Sport and Leisure and M&A teams really comes into play."
In other notable deals in the sport and leisure sector, Lander & Rogers advised private equity fund FC32 on its acquisition of Irish football club, the Cobh Ramblers; and motorsports consortium Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises Ltd (RACE) on its acquisition of Supercars Championship from Archer Capital.
