NBA star Kevin Durant has become a minority shareholder of French soccer giants Paris Saint-Germain.
According to sources with knowledge of the agreement — granted anonymity to protect relationships — Durant’s investment firm Boardroom has bought a “single digit millions” shareholding in the Arctos fund which has invested in PSG.
Arctos, a U.S. based private investment firm, purchased a 12.5 per cent stake of the Ligue 1 club last year, in a move that would value PSG at around €4.25billion (£3.64bn; $4.58bn), according to sources close to the deal at the time.
Durant took time away from his Olympic schedule to visit PSG’s new training centre at Poissy, west of Paris, last week, and met with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Sources with knowledge of his visit say he was accompanied by his agent and co-founder of Boardroom, Rich Kleiman. The two sides “presented” to each other regarding the agreement.
Representatives of Arctos and Kleiman have been contacted for comment.
🏀 Kevin Durant at the PSG Campus 🤝
📺 Before tonight’s final, take a look back at Kevin Durant’s visit to the PSG Campus 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/qZjHEXfPBW
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 10, 2024
“It was an honour to welcome Kevin Durant to the Campus today and to witness his passion for Paris Saint-Germain and his recognition of the excellent sports facilities at our new PSG Campus training centre,” said Al-Khelaifi following Durant’s visit.
“Kevin is an inspirational athlete, investor and all-round role model, both on and off the pitch. We are extremely proud of his connection to the Paris Saint-Germain family as we share the same values and vision. We look forward to strengthening our ties and working together with Kevin and boardroom to bring the best in sport and entertainment to fans around the world.”
Durant, 35, is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He added a fourth Olympic gold medal — a record for men’s basketball — to his extensive collection during the Paris Games on Saturday. He is also the leading U.S. scorer in Olympic competition for either men or women.
PSG have multiple sports teams beyond men’s and women’s soccer, including handball, judo and esports, although they do not yet have a basketball side.
The club are known to be exploring a variety of collaborations on their brand and across different sports verticals, with a view to enhancing their status as soccer grows in the U.S., with the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and World Cup 2026 on the horizon.
This is not PSG’s first link-up with basketball royalty. The club are currently partnered with Michael Jordan’s brand, Jordan, an agreement that is now into its sixth year.
GO DEEPER
Kevin Durant takes all that fretting over his status and stuffs it in the hoop
(Paris Saint-Germain)
