The Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game five to win the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on July 7, 2021.
Bruce Bennett | fake images
The Tampa Bay Lightning ownership group is expanding.
Vinik Sports Group, led by giant investor Jeff Vinik, is selling a stake in the National Hockey League team to a group of investors led by Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but previous reports indicate a valuation close to $2 billion. The transaction represents a compound annual growth rate of around 18%, based on the team's valuation in 2010 when it was sold to Vinik.
The agreement was approved by the NHL Board of Governors on Oct. 1 and will take effect immediately, according to a news release. Vinik will retain control of the team after the transaction and will remain the team's governor for the next three years. At that point, control will pass to Ostrover and Lipschultz.
Private equity has rushed to acquire stakes in professional sports teams in the United States. More recently, National Football League owners voted to allow select private equity firms to acquire up to 10% of the teams.
The deals have intensified as valuations among professional sports teams have soared.
As part of the Lightning deal announced Thursday, Arctos Partners will also sell a portion of its ownership and remain a minority shareholder.
Ostrover and Lipschultz are co-CEOs of Blue Owl Capital, an asset manager with a sports strategy fund. They met Vinik through his relationships with Arctos.
Arctos has an extensive portfolio of sports investments and was among the private equity investors recently approved to acquire stakes in the NFL. The company, which earlier this year closed its second sports-focused fund, totaling $4.1 billion in commitments, owns roughly two dozen stakes in sports and esports teams.
The Lightning have won two Stanley Cup championships since 2020 and three overall. Vinik acquired the Lightning in 2010 for $110 million and has since invested billions in real estate development in downtown Tampa Bay.
