Overview
The transaction:
- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery represented Calvin Ford in connection with his equity investment in German soccer team SSV Ulm 1846 Fußball GmbH & Co. KGaA (Ulm).
- The Investment Agreement was signed on April 2, 2024, and closed on May 7, 2024.
Team background:
- Ulm quickly established itself in Germany’s Third Division in 2023 and remained unbeaten in the league in 2024, including a final seven-game winning streak.
- Winning the Third Division Championship secured Ulm’s second consecutive promotion, elevating them to Germany’s Second Division, 2. Bundesliga.
Why it matters:
- Ford’s investment provides substantial support for Ulm in its endeavors to establish itself in Germany’s Second Division alongside long-time traditional German powers such as Schalke 04 and FC Koln, as well as to comply with certain Bundesliga requirements for teams in higher divisions.
The McDermott cross-border team was led by Tom Conaghan, Scott Bowman and Greg Berson, with substantial assistance from Thomas Ammermann, Philipp Grenzebach, Wolfgang von Frentz and Annabelle Juliette Rau.
Read Ulm’s press release here.
About McDermott’s Family Office Capital & Investment Strategies (FOCIS) Group Advising on Sports Law
FOCIS is a multi-practice team within McDermott that draws on the experience of our Private Client, Tax and Transactional lawyers to provide creative and holistic solutions across all levels of a family wealth structure including with respect to direct investing across several industries, including sports, media and entertainment. By taking a comprehensive and multi-level approach, we aim to achieve enhanced economic returns through optimal planning for families, returns that would otherwise be lost when working with external advisors with a narrower lens.
This approach is critical in professional sports investing and ownership, where tax and estate planning are key structural elements. McDermott advises family groups and business owners on numerous sports-related investments, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, real estate, tax and estate planning.
About McDermott
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