JP Morgan forms specialist sports investment banking team

• Eric Menell and Gian Pietro Sammartano to co-head new unit
• Bank believes combined value of sports teams in Europe and the US is more than US$400 billion
• JP Morgan advised on Manchester United’s minority stake sale to Jim Ratcliffe

JP Morgan has established a new sports-centred investment banking group, as sports teams continue to be an attractive target for investors. 

The team will work with JP Morgan’s investment banking, commercial banking and private bank sectors to offer advisory and financing solutions for investors looking to buy equity stakes in sports organisations. 

Eric Menell and Gian Pietro Sammartano, who lead the bank’s media investment banking divisions in North America and Europe respectively, will co-head the new group. They will report to Fred Turpin, JP Morgan’s global head of media and communications investment banking, for global sector coverage.

Sammartano will also report to Burkhard Koep, who is the managing director and head of telecoms and media for the EMEA region.

In an internal memo reported by several outlets, Turpin said that elite sports teams based in the US and Europe commanded a total value of more than US$400 billion.

‘Sports has become an increasingly large asset class, attracting more and more institutional investors,’ he added.

The bank has advised on several significant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in the sports industry, including Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a minority stake in Manchester United.

During the past year, it has also lent its expertise to Formula One owner Liberty Media and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

JP Morgan already has a sports financing franchise that provides funding for stadium and arena projects, including the ongoing upgrades made to Real Madrid’s home venue in the Santiago Bernabeu.